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497 <br /> <br />OTHER BUSINESS <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said that the Crescent Hall parking lot is experiencing a problem <br />with cut-through traffic. She said the Housing Authority will be asking the City for <br />assistance. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said that one of the problems is that there are very few connections <br />from that neighborhood to downtown. <br /> <br />Dr. Brown said that another way to address the problem is through enforcement. <br /> <br />Mr. O'Connell said staff will look into the matter and come up with solutions. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said that he had voted for a verbatim transcript of a portion of the <br />last meeting, but he asked that we not do that. Mr. Caravati said he does not think <br />minutes should be verbatim <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said we should impose on ourselves a limit of speaking for no more <br />than three minutes. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he has no problem with the minutes continuing to summarize <br />comments and having individual Councilors being able to request that their comments be <br />verbatim. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch said he thinks if a Councilors wants their comments verbatim, they <br />should be provided in writing and be a reasonable length. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he has spoken with Lloyd Snook and Charles Weber, <br />representatives from the Democratic and Republic Parties, about formation of a task force <br />to study wards for the School Board. He said he is inclined to support a ward based <br />system, but would like to know what it means as a practical matter to have various <br />configurations. He said he would propose a small task force to investigate other <br />communities, existing wards in the City, demographic, alternatives and pros and cons. <br />He suggested a composition of two Democrats, two Republicans, Sheri Iachetta, Voter <br />Registrar, Sean O'Brien, former chair of the Council Elections Study Task Force, and a <br />former School Board chair. <br /> <br /> Mr. Caravati said he thinks this should be the Mayor's task force, and that it <br />should be called the School Election Task force, not Ward Task Force. He said he thinks <br />they should also look at an at large election as well as all ways to elect School Board <br />members. <br /> <br /> Ms. Hamilton said that in the past the League of Women Voters conducted studies <br />such as this. She said she will support the task force. <br /> <br /> Mr. Lynch suggested that it simply be called the School Board Elections Task <br />Force. He said it is clear from the referendum that people want to elect the School Board. <br />He said the problems facing the School Board do not break down geographically and they <br />are not going to be solved geographically. He said the task force should also look at an <br />instant runoff vote so someone cannot win with a small vote. He said he would also like <br />to have them look at remuneration of the School Board because what they are paid is a <br />fairly small amount. <br /> <br /> Mr. Schilling said it is important that we discuss this. He said he is concerned <br />there is no backup plan if the at large system is not pre-cleared. He said we have not <br />asked for an amendment to the Charter. He said Council has research from the Council <br />Elections Task Force. He said he is not sure it makes sense without putting this in the <br />City's legislative package. <br /> <br /> Dr. Brown said he will take Councilors' comments into consideration and will <br />come back with a proposal. <br /> <br /> <br />