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444 Mr. Schilling made a substitute motion to approve Alternative C, but the motion died for lack of a second. Mr. Lynch said that having heard Mr. Schilling's argument he is persuaded more by Mr. Caravati's argument that by introducing the whole debate about going to a ward or mixed ward system we are introducing something that is not that relevant. He said if Dr. Brown and Ms. Hamilton feel strongly about leaving the language in he will defer to their judgment, but urged them to consider that one, it is not particularly relevant to what will happen in November or shortly after, and two, he thinks it implies a process that we have not made any decisions about right now. Ms. Hamilton added that part of the discussion revolves around what we owe to the public. She said the reason the language was put in in first place is because it acknowledges that it is a question that matters a great deal to many in the public, including Mr. Schilling. She said the question is do we answer people's questions about it or do we just ignore the question. She said she will defer to the judgment of other Councilors who feel more strongly about the issue, but said for her it is a matter that allows us to enlighten people about something that some members of the public care greatly about, but others may not. Dr. Brown said he would like to think Alternative B lays out what is required by existing law and what we will have to do to do something different, and he will still support that. Mr. Lynch said he will keep the motion. He said it is important to respond to the assertion made by Mr. Schilling that geographic representation translates into racial representation. He said he thinks we have shown in Charlottesville for a long time, as was pointed out earlier, that has not been an issue. He said Charlottesville residents look at the candidate and in fact African-American or women and other candidates have done fairly well. He said he thinks we will have the same issue as we have with City Council which is recruiting qualified candidates to run, and said that will be the real challenge. Personally he said he thinks we will have a more solid recruiting process if we have the whole city to recruit from, but he assumes that is an issue for another day. Mr. Lynch called the question. Alternative statement B was approved by the following vote. Ayes: Dr. Brown, Ms. Hamilton, Mr. Lynch. Noes: Mr. Caravati. Abstaining: Mr. Schilling. Mr. Brown said the statement can be distributed on election day to voters and can be made available in the Registrar's office. He proposed putting the statement in the Daily Progress on October 23 and 30. Mr. Lynch proposed putting the statement in the Daily Progress once, and also in the Cville, Hook, Tribune and the Spanish speaking newspaper. Dr. Brown suggested putting it on the City's website. It was agreed to publish a display ad in the Daily Progress on November 6th and in the other four weekly papers the week preceding the election. PRESENTATION: VIRGINIA FIRST CITIES Mr. Neal Barbour, Executive Director of Virginia First Cities, provided an overview of the framework for legislative proposals for the 2006 General Assembly, including the areas of K-12 Education; transportation; redevelopment; real property tax relief; and urban policy. Ms. Hamilton asked about the income tax circuit breaker, and Mr. Barbour said it would be a credit against state incomes taxes for real property taxes paid. He said specific populations can be targeted and the amount of tax relief can be controlled.