HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CC-2011-01-05January 5, 2011
PETITIONS AND HEARINGS OF PERSONS BEFORE COUNCIL:
Bill Goldsmith, Board of Public Works Commissioner, addressed Council regarding the
appointment of a new member to the Board of Public Works. He urged Common
Council to appoint the new person to the current vacancy on the Board, rather than
replacing a Board member whose term expired December 31, 2010 and who wishes to
remain on the Board. He stated that the retention of experienced members of the Board
is very important, and noted that there have been a total of 26 individuals appointed to
the Board of Public Works between 1990 and 2011 and of those, 17 (65%) were
reappointed to additional terms.
David Warden, Board of Public Works Commissioner, urged Council to fill the current
vacancy on the Board rather than replacing the Board member whose term expired
December 31, 2010. He noted that it is very important for the Board to have a full
contingency of members because there is a lot of work to share.
Fay Gougakis, City of Ithaca, addressed Common Council regarding the recent
accidental release of hydrolysate from the Cornell University Vet School carcass
digester into the City's wastewater treatment plant facility and storm water collection
system. She stated that Cornell University should be fined as this was the second
incident of this nature.
Ray Schlather, former Board of Public Works Commissioner, addressed Common
Council regarding the vacancy on the Board of Public Works. He stated that he
respects the Mayor's authority and prerogative to make appointments to boards and
committees but disagrees with her decision to replace an experienced Board member,
rather than fill the current vacancy on the Board. He noted the Board's need to have
representation from each area of the City.
Joel Harlan, Town of Newfield, addressed Council regarding Cornell University's
influence on the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR — COMMON COUNCIL AND THE MAYOR:
Alderperson Zumoff responded to comments made regarding the appointment of a new
Board of Public Works Commissioner and voiced his agreement with the comments
made by the current and former Board members.
Alderperson McCollister announced that there would be a Sewer Joint Committee
meeting at the Wastewater Treatment Plant on January 12, 2011 and the Cornell
hydrolysate spill would be discussed.
Mayor Peterson announced her appointment of Alderperson Maria Coles as Acting
Mayor and Alderperson Eric Rosario as Alternate Acting Mayor for 2011. She
administered the Oath of Office to both of them. Both alderpersons thanked the Mayor
for this opportunity to serve the City.
Mayor Peterson presented the 2011 State of the City Address. The following is a
slightly condensed version:
"It is unquestionable that the state and local government economic picture will be the
major part of 2011; however, it should not overshadow the significant amount of work
that city departments have accomplished in 2010 and hope to accomplish in 2011,
including the work of Common Council through its standing committees and working
groups. Some future project areas include: advancing improved public information
initiatives, police department accreditation, hiring (through a grant) a new sustainability
manager, working on all six labor unit contracts, various improvements to the city
charter, and comprehensive parking management. Numerous planning initiatives are
underway from renewed attention to the Southwest area of the city to Collegetown to
South Hill. This brief list is only the tip of hundreds of projects large and small.
In the next few weeks, I will create a new committee to address the 2010 census and
the redistricting that must follow. The charge for this committee will be informed by input
from the Charter and Code Working Group, the 2002 City Redistricting Report, and
discussions with Tompkins County. Each ward shall be represented on the committee,
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and there will be two "at -large" members. In addition to analyzing the census data,
tasks will include:
• Examining the number of wards in the city, and the number of Council seats in
relation to the number of wards
• Examining the concept of at -large council seats and /or a combination of at -large
and ward representatives
• Discussing whether the mayor, as a council member, should have a vote on all
issues (not just in the event of a tie)
• Reviewing how city wards interface with county voting districts
• Understanding and evaluating the neighborhood boundaries, including student
neighborhoods
• Holding a public meeting regarding these topics to receive public input
Another new working group will be appointed that will directly tie into budgetary matters
for 2011 and future years. Before this group is formed, I will call for a special Common
Council meeting in order to develop a response plan should a State property tax cap be
enacted along with reductions in State aid. I will ask each Council member to be
prepared to discuss what they feel are the city's core essential services/programs,
legally required services, values driven services, and alternate ways these essential
services could be provided should significant cuts to the budget become required. In
other words, this approach will be strategically based, not a broad brush percentage
decrease across all departments and programs. To aid in that aspect, a focus group
meeting will be held and participants will be asked to answer the same questions. I also
encourage any community or neighborhood group meeting to take up the same
questions.
On July 7, 2004, the City of Ithaca adopted its Workforce Diversity Plan. Fourteen
attributes were formed to establish a foundation for diversity and inclusiveness. City
leadership, including the mayor, common council and senior management, is charged to
follow this plan and to be the examples by which the entire city workforce demonstrates
its commitment to diversity. The mayor is charged with reaffirming the city's commitment
to diversity on an annual basis. A commitment to diversity—through community
partnerships, accountability, annual performance goals for each department, or
provision of training—is necessary to develop a welcoming and respectful culture in our
workplace, that competently and effectively supports the very diverse community in
which we live, work, and play.
In 2011:
• There is funding for 30 employees to participate in the Undoing Racism
workshops with David Billings. The 2010 participants continue to meet and
discuss issues of race and racism.
• Work will continue on an expanded diversity training program throughout
the city workforce.
• The Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Walkway will continue to advance.
• Department reports on individual diversity plans will be ongoing.
• The mayor's Strategy Group will continue meeting into 2011. This group of
people originally met on the night of February 23, 2010 after a police
action that resulted in the shooting death of Shawn Greenwood. This
group, facilitated by TFC Associates, has been instrumental in helping me,
the city, and thus the community, cope with such a major event.
It is incumbent upon us to not have this be a statement in words only. All members of
senior leadership are responsible and accountable for the continuation of this work. A
small working group will be appointed to work with me, the Human Resources
Department, the Workforce Advisory Committee, and Common Council to develop an
accountability system whereby we can track the above goals and make sure that it is
not only an annual statement, but a regularly reported mechanism that shows success
in adhering to and advancing our diversity goals."
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