2005-04-04 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The public hearing was opened. Mr. Steve Knick, a resident of Lake Monticello, a City Police Officer and representative of the Police Officers Association, said that compression has historically been a problem because of changes made to starting and ending pay scales. He said adjustments were made in 2001 but it did not solve the problem. He suggested that a step system be used. Mr. Rod Howard, 1109 11th Street, a small minority business owner, asked that police officers be helped and supported. He said he would like to see more minority officers. He said he understands that salaries are an issue. Mr. Robert Bricker, 1216 Meriwether Street, Vice President of McGuffey Arts Center, noted that in exchange for below market rents, McGuffey artists provide a variety of services to the public. He said a program offering art lessons to inmates is being established. He said this is the second year that rents were increased by 25% or more. He expressed concern that the result of this will be that poorer arts will be forced out. He asked that Council not shift interest from cultural benefit to financial matters. Mr. Chris Farina, 1308 Chesapeake Street, said that he operates a parking garage off of the University corner. He asked that Council support adequate salaries and benefits for the police. He said it is important to keep experienced police officers. He said Council must address sustaining the morale of the Police Department. Mr. John Pfaltz, 1503 Rugby Road, said that a 25% increase in staff health benefits is costly; that we mindlessly allocate 40% of any tax increase to a dysfunctional school system with a decreasing student population; Council allocates $5 million for Jefferson School without a murmur in addition to the $1.5 million already allocated, but haggles over $5,000 for Art in Place; and we are committed to paying $4 million in consulting fees and over $1 million per year for CityLink. Mr. Raymond Mason, 992 Charlton Avenue, asked Council to look into the complaint about no heat in public housing; expressed concern about the Paramount Theater maintaining the formerly segregated side entrance; and said a new fire department would be overkill and there are other areas where money should be spent. He said the cross-walks at Washington Park are insufficient. Ms. Tatiana Patton, 2209 Jefferson Park Avenue, said that we need to make a concerted effort to increase recycling. Mr. Jim Moore, 1213 Hazel Street, said that the budget is actually increasing by more than 6%, he has established that there is no freeze in place on positions, and unless the trend is changed the 14 positions that are being eliminated are not a good representation of net change. As there were no further speakers, the public hearing was closed. Ms. Hamilton said we should discuss points made by Mr. Mason. She noted that the Housing Authority budget is separate from the City, but they did ask for more City funding. She said that when the Housing Authority could not fix the heat, people were sent to hotels. She said the Housing Authority has hired a maintenance manager. Regarding the formerly segregated entrance to the Paramount Theater, she said there are different theories about how to address painful histories, with some thinking being that you do not try to hide history or cover it up. She suggested that Mr. Mason find out how the Paramount is commemorating this history on the inside of the building. Mr. Lynch noted that the Paramount was asked to preserve that entrance. Ms. Hamilton said that the fire station issue is being looked at because fire response times are going down in the City, especially on the south side.