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Council Minutes of 1/6/2009 <br />with the incoming administration and impress upon them the fallacy of the idea that <br />municipalities are the problem and rather that municipalities can be the solution to the <br />problems that our economy faces and our nation faces. They believe, if economic <br />stimulus can be directed to municipalities for works on road, infrastructure, bridges, <br />water mains, and drainage lines, it will create jobs. Creating jobs will put an end to the <br />economic crisis we face. In answer to a further question by Councilman Gareau, the <br />Mayor said the cost of the trip is about $2,0(}0 which .covers transportation and <br />conference attendance. Councilman Gareau questioned the appropriateness of such an <br />expenditure when the city has laid off employees and is looking at additional cuts. <br />Mayor O'Grady expressed the opinion that is was appropriate. He said that the potential <br />for bringing in $97 million of revenue to the city far out shadows the $2,OOa. The State is <br />looking at a $7 billion deficit this year. We are not going to find this money locally. In <br />this economic crisis, we must work together to find a solution. Councilman Gareau <br />expressed the opinion that the Mayor should not be traveling at this time. He understands <br />the administration will be meeting with the bargaining units to try to hammer out some of <br />these issues to get their employees back and what concessions can be made. Every dollar <br />will count when we're trying to balance this budget. I thinks traveling in January at a <br />time when our own employee unions are negotiating to try to solve a crisis within their <br />own ranks and solve the problem is a bad idea. <br />Councilman Barker questioned the payment for the conference as no travel is to be <br />included in the 2009 budget. Mayor O'Grady explained the trip had been scheduled for <br />months and was paid for out of 2008 appropriations. He will take Mr. Gareau's <br />comments under consideration. He had given some thought to not attending and asked <br />his administrative assistant to inquire if a refund could be received. Councilman Barker <br />questioned if the Mayor had not known for months that we were having a financial crisis. <br />Council has been asking for a plan for six months on how to rectify the financial <br />problems in 2009. If it were him, he wouldn't even think about spending money like this <br />when the city is laying off people. Mayor O'Grady said the administration is bringing <br />forward to Council changes in response to the significant economic difficulties we face. <br />They're bringing forward changes to Council that have eliminated virtually all travel and <br />conferences for the year. They understand and feel the same way, and Council will see <br />that as they continue deliberations on the budget. <br />Law Director Dubelko: 1) By law, he is required to make an annual report to City <br />Council at the first meeting every January. (Copies have been provided and the report is <br />on the city website.) The department budget is about $400,000, and the department has <br />returned money to the General Fund every year. This year it is a little over $12,000. The <br />department has a small number of civil cases pending in the city, most of which are <br />insurance defenses. There are two replevin actions. Traffic tickets have continued to <br />decrease. They are down to about 7,600 as of December 23, 2008 compared to about <br />8,000 in 2007 and over 9,500 in 2006. At the high point of 2003, there were 15,000 <br />traffic tickets issued in the city. This approximate 50% decrease from 2003 to 2008 is <br />primarily due to changes in the city's STOP program, particularly in the years 2405 <br />through 2006. The convictions obtained in real property maintenance prosecutions <br />significantly increased in 2008. Complaints filed more than doubled from 7 to 18, and <br />3 <br />