12/04/2012 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 12-04-2012 for the year 2013, and declaring an emergency. This is an annual contract with ,~ the County General Health District to provide health services. The committee voted 3-0 to recommend approval of Resolution 2012-118 with suspension of the rules. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Dennis Lambert, 25057 Carey Lane referred to Ordinances 2012-120 and 2012-121. He said that North Olmsted has different information and the information should be investigated. The city has the profitability of the Mayor's Court as $3,000 by one individual and a couple hundred thousand by Mayor Kennedy. This looks like an election ploy. He cannot recall when three Council members ever voted against what the Mayor wanted -Brossard, Barker and Schumann. He reminded Council that they are not employees of the Mayor or Administration. They are partners with the Administration and are serving the public interest. The system may change. The highway patrol is building a post in Brooklyn and will be patrolling I-480. This will throw the Mayor's Court "out of whack' because the city will not be getting money from I-480 tickets. Lambert said he recommended that an accounting process should be put into place to handle the Mayor's Court, and he has been ignored. If Mayor's Court fails, it will be a problem that will fall on the city's shoulders. Mayor Kennedy said he looks forward to presenting the North Olmsted Mayor's Court numbers to the public. ~ Thomas O'Grady, 6328 Hastings Drive asked Finance Director Copfer what caused her change in her position of Mayor's Court. When he was Finance Committee Chairman and they were discussing the proposition of a Mayor's Court, Copfer objected to it on philosophical grounds and she had a certainty that it would not be economically feasibility. O'Grady said when he became Mayor, this subject came up again and Copfer was against it. Copfer responded said under Mayor Musial, the Mayor's Court did not seem feasible. There was a lot different information back then and the software was much more expensive. Mayor Kennedy has put a lot of work, effort and research into this. They have visited other Mayor's Courts, and she cannot dispute that the Mayor has done his homework on this. She said it is the Council's decision and the Mayor's decision to present these opportunities. She did review this and the projections are very promising. O'Grady said asked if this is a good idea philosophically. Copfer said the philosophy of the Finance Director does not matter and it is not her business. She is the financial person, has reviewed the projections and has been involved in the process. She has spoken on the financial aspect of this. She believes it is not her business -which she believes she has -told the Mayor that philosophically she thinks courts have proven to be better in a municipal environment. The Mayor has convinced her. She has gone to see several courts, she thinks they work very well and she is looking forward to supporting the city in that effort. O'Grady spoke about the separation of powers. He said if you put the courts in the hands of the Administration, you violated the principle of separation of powers and open the doors for abuse. He asked Council to reverse their decision to allow the creation of Mayor's Court in North Olmsted. Mayor Kennedy said he does not understand how this will harm residents when they will be treated with respect and pay ,,~"` less in Mayor's Court than Rocky River Court. Also, they can choose to go to Rocky 5