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5 <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said he concurs with Mr. Lynch's comments and feels the key is <br />workforce development. He said he also agrees on the importance of homeownership <br />and feels that rehabilitation is also an excellent use of the money. Mr. Schilling said he <br />would also like to step up code enforcement as renters are frustrated with the process. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards noted that the Council's passage of the blight ordinance should help <br />with code enforcement concerns. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati concurred with the proposed three goals, and said he feels <br />h omeownership efforts are really starting to produce results, but said he does not think <br />rehabilitation has been a very good performer. Mr. Caravati said he thinks a goal should <br />also be to increase rental housing to respond to desperate needs. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox sa id the CDBG program is an annual frustration as we use funds to chip <br />away at poverty. Mr. Cox noted that the City is also doing many other things to fight <br />poverty. He said he feels we need to look at different models of homes, and does not feel <br />they can all be single family detached. He said more dense housing is needed and we <br />need to build in affordable housing within market rate housing projects. Mr. Cox said he <br />feels CDBG funds can be used to help subsidize affordability. He said he continues to <br />sup port workforce development, but we need to leverage money to do more. Mr. Cox <br />said he agrees with the idea of soliciting from agencies who are already doing the work. <br />As we start to talk about corridors in the City, Mr. Cox suggested we look at how CDBG <br />funds can be used for economic development on those corridors to help existing <br />businesses. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox said he supports keeping Rose Hill as the target neighborhood, and Ms. <br />Richards agreed. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards said that if workforce development is the priority, she would <br />support using 15% to focus on those efforts. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati concurred with Ms. Richards and noted that day care would qualify <br />under workforce development. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said that transportation is also an issue in workforce development. <br /> <br /> Respond ing to a question from Mr. Lynch, Ms. Creasy said funds remain in the <br />downtown assistance program. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch suggested that we do a better job of advertising what we have <br />available for homeownership assistance. <br /> <br />REPORT <br />: PUBLIC ACCESS CENTER <br /> <br /> Mr. Mauric e Jones, Director of Communications, introduced Cal Tate, full - time <br />Coordinator for the Public Access Center. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tate said that all three channels, government, education and public access, <br />have become very active and there are now 45 shows. Mr. Tate sa id that the facility has <br />been upgraded, but there are future needs, including playback decks, a light dimmer <br />system, and studio soundproofing. <br /> <br /> Mr. Cox asked if there is a way of determining the number of viewers, but Mr. <br />Tate said there is only anecdotal evidence. <br /> <br /> Ms. Richards complimented Mr. Jones and Mr. Tate on their presentation. Ms. <br />Richards said that hiring Mr. Tate as the full - time Coordinator and upgrading the facility <br />at CATEC are the reasons for the resurgence. Ms. Richards said she anticip ates greater <br />investment in public access with the franchise agreement negotiation. Ms. Richards said <br />she feels providing the public with access to the airwaves is an important role of <br />government. She said she hopes public access will become an important part of the needs <br />