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<br />versed as to what is going on. He phoned the City Manager to make arrangements to talk <br />to the Chief. Mr. Price stated that there is $100,000 allocated for the youth programming <br />that will help improve safety in this town. He stated that why would a young person take a <br />job here when there is always confusion and there is always a mess going on. He asked, <br />why would a young worker want to work for the City when talk is of spending $100,000 on <br />an audit and voting down a sales tax and people are getting laid off by slashing the budget. <br />He stated in the eleven and one-half years he has been here, this is the best budget <br />transfer he has seen. Mr. Price stated in the previous eight years he could not make them <br />out and this one he could understand. <br /> <br />Ms. Ricci advised Council and the City Manager that she would individually contact the <br />Chief of Police to arrange for a discussion with him about the police budget. <br /> <br />Ms. Watson noted that the Solid Waste fund was moved in 09 into a separate fund. She <br />said that the City ended up with some extraordinary cost due to the flood. Ms. Watson said <br />that part of the amendment is a transfer from the General Fund into the Solid Waste fund to <br />cover the negative balance. <br /> <br />Mr. Glickert asked if this had to be voted on tonight. Ms. Watson said it did because it had <br />to be finalized, as the auditors were due next week. <br /> <br />Mayor Adams presented Ms. Watson with a certificate for excellent financial reporting from <br />the Government Financial Officers Association of US and Canada. Mr. Adams thanked Ms. <br />Watson for a great job. <br /> <br />CITIZEN COMMENTS <br />Nova Felton, 8031 Noel Ct. <br />Ms. Felton had several concerns she would like to be considered on the budget report next <br />Monday. She asked the City to review the zoning ordinances to identify areas of <br />improvement so that Olive can become an attractive main street in U City that could attract <br />businesses, local as well as national chains and franchises and homebuyers. Secondly she <br />requested more funding for code enforcement for businesses and residents. She <br />suggested a permit be purchased for garage sales. Lastly she talked about the community <br />block funds needed to have more money set aside to help the elderly and low income <br />families to fix their home to meet code, as the City cannot afford for these people to leave <br />their homes only to increase the number of vacant homes. (Ms. Felton’s comments will be <br />attached to the end of the minutes). She commented on the possible cut in budget by <br />eliminating police patrol. Ms. Felton said that she could not imagine cutting this. She noted <br />recently there was a meeting of gangs in the Fogerty Park called Hood Day. The City needs <br />to require a permit for a meeting of fifty or more people. <br /> <br />Edward McCarthy, 7101 Princeton Ave <br />Mr. McCarthy said the budget changes are last year’s changes and he finds it surprising to <br />spend the money and then make changes to balance the budget. He stated the purpose of <br />the budget is to project into the future that you understand how the City works and <br />understand what its needs are. He asked, “If you are going to do measurements in the <br />future are you going to keep changing them till you get them right?” Mr. McCarthy asked for <br />an explanation from the City Manager as to why these budget amendments are made <br />before a vote is taken. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />