2010-02-08 Regular City Council Agenda

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for a large sum of money, during a crisis time, for a small population.Ms. Ricci stated there are other youth programs out there. She said that the Community Center had a Youth in Planning program and asked what happened to this program. The University City Library had a teen program; the Trinity Presbyterian Church had a program. The school district with the Red Cross had a youth program. Ms. Ricci noted that the school district budget is twenty-five percent larger than the City’s. She stated that while she wants to invest in the youth but that amount of money for a small population, she could not justify with so many other needs as fire, police and safety of our community as paramount. Ms. Ricci said maybe it would make sense to have a coordinator, as there are businesses that are looking for kids to work, households looking for assistance in outdoor work and the dollars would then come from the businesses or individuals, not from all of the community. Mr. Glickert said he thought it would be a good idea but felt it had a way to go. He said that he was glad that the City Manager has talked to the school superintendant but he has heard from a board member that they have no idea of what is going on and have not been included in the discussions. Mr. Glickert wants to know what the school board can do to help. He said all the comments have been generalized and he wants specifics. Mr. Glickert said that it was his understanding in the beginning that this program was to circumvent some of the problems the school was having and now it is opened to all students in U City High School. He complimented all students speaking tonight for speaking so elegantly. Mr. Glickert said now the Urban League entered into the picture and we have never been given any material on their program. Mr. Glickert reminded Mr. Price that he had the floor. He said all the parties need to be brought together for a consensus. Mr. Price said that on the Council there is a party of No, they hate everything, they dislike everything and they fabricate information. He said that one person said they needed a coordinator but if they would have read the material, they would have known the program has a coordinator. Mr. Price stated that Mr. Glickert got all the information; he cannot make them read it and it is a deliberate attempt not to make the City work with the School District. Mr. Price gave another civic lesson. Council people are elected by wards not City wide, so when a constituent mentions 37,000 residents that is not true and that is why there are wards. Only the Mayor is elected city-wide so that Council person does not represent everyone in the whole city. This is why he is doing this, so you could see who is with you and who is not with you. Mr. Crow stated that you could tell that we are a diverse community and hold our beliefs very close and sometimes paint with some large brushes. Thus far, no vote has been taken on this. The one question he continues to ask is how can we minimize the risk so that is a successful program. When one of his colleagues mentioned a program that did not work, he feels this is a problem that we do need to try to continue to address and not to write our children off. He understands that we have budget concerns but at a time when two million dollars has been returned to our cash reserves, he thinks it is appropriate to have this conversation and to continue looking into it as whether it will work. Mr. Crow said that sometime you have to take the step to get the program going. He noted that there are statistics saying that with such programs with youth there is a forty percent likely hood to graduate from high school or get a GED, twenty-two percent less likelihood of getting arrested, and have a likelihood of making higher earnings. It seemed to him that when talking about safety and security for our neighborhood it makes sense for us to do things that will help the children to succeed and will help the police force to spend time someplace 6