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2 <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said she would like to hear specific ideas on priorities from <br />Councilors and then discuss narrowing them down. <br /> <br /> Ms. Tracy Hopper, Chair of CCF, said it seems that priorities should be backed up <br />by research and public input. She said the method of reaching priorities is important. <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said since there is a desire to move to a two-year budget process, <br />Council could take longer to come up with priorities. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said a two year process sounds good and it would help streamline <br />the process and we should work toward that. He said that from a comparative basis it <br />might not be a bad idea to start from scratch. He expressed concern with funding <br />agencies that are rated fair. He suggested a zero based approach every five years. He <br />said we also need to look at older agencies getting more money. He said agencies are not <br />really only being asked to do work for little increases, the work is being done for their <br />entire allocation. Regarding the survey of agencies, he said he was disappointed in the <br />answers from the agencies and the number who responded. He said Council needs to be <br />definitive that we trust the reviewers and the process. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell noted that the strategic planning process is beginning and that <br />could be used to look at the whole issue. <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said she would like to know where Councilors are now regarding <br />priorities. She said Council could at least say that if an agency is given a fair rating their <br />funding is cut off. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown asked if ratings are based on the value of the program or the skill of <br />completing the applications. <br /> <br /> Ms. Baker said that fair ratings are generally given after questions are sent back to <br />agencies, after site visits, and after references are called. <br /> <br /> Mr. O'Connell said it is difficult when the need is there but the agency <br />performance is poor. <br /> <br />Councilors indicated their priorities. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he would like to focus on generational poverty, economic <br />development from high school to workforce development, and reducing overall poverty. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said he feels Ms. Hopper made a good point about coming to <br />conclusions without research. Mr. Schilling said he would make a broad statement <br />regarding fostering independence, in both living and job skills, and would look for <br />research on this. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he would like to help kids at the low end of the achievement gap <br />at the pre-school level, and to find ways to help adolescents be more engaged in school. <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said she would focus on family violence and getting beyond the <br />"eat your vegetables" approach to children, focusing on intangibles. She said there is no <br />real attention given to intangible things such as art for poor kids, and she would like to <br />see them plugged into positive things. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he would focus on criminal justice and feels the quickest results <br />can be gotten from something like the drug court. He said he would also focus on <br />available and affordable rental housing. He said he thinks this would help both criminal <br />justice and educational issues. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he agrees with all the issues raised by Councilors. He said he <br />would like the issue of cost avoidance studied. For instance, would jail costs go down if <br />more was spent on OAR. He said we should look at where we are spending money <br /> <br /> <br />