HomeMy WebLinkAboutMN-CC-1994-01-01January 1, 1994
COMMON COUNCIL PROCEEDINGS
CITY OF ITHACA, NEW YORK
Special Meeting11:00 A.M. January 1, 1994
PRESENT:
Mayor Nichols
Council Members - Romanowski, Blanchard, Booth, Schroeder,
Golder,
Hoffman, Daley, Berg, Efroymson, Johnson
Council Members-Elect - Mackesey, Shenk, Sams, Hanna, Thorpe,
Gray
OTHERS PRESENT:
City Clerk - Paolangeli
Deputy City Controller - Thayer
City Attorney - Guttman
Police Chief - McEwen
Youth Bureau Director - Cohen
City Judge-Elect - Rossiter
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE:
Mayor Nichols led all present in the Pledge of Allegiance to the
American flag.
DISMISSAL OF OUTGOING COUNCIL:
Mayor Nichols thanked Alderpersons Berg, Blanchard, Romanowski,
Hoffman, Daley, and Golder for their years of dedicated service
to the City and their many contributions to the community.
Alderpersons Booth, Schroeder, Johnson and Efroymson presented
outgoing Alderpersons with gifts and spoke of the many
accomplishments and numerous contributions made by these
individuals to the City of Ithaca.
OATH OF OFFICE - CITY JUDGE
Judith Rossiter took the Oath of Office and was sworn in by
County Clerk Aurora Valenti.
OATH OF OFFICE - MAYOR NICHOLS:
Mayor Nichols took the Oath of Office and was sworn in by City
Clerk Paolangeli.
OATH OF OFFICE - ALDERPERSONS ELECT:
Mayor Nichols called the newly elected and re-elected
Alderpersons to the rostrum to be sworn into their respective
offices:
Pamela Mackesey - newly elected from First Ward
Sara Shenk - newly elected from First Ward
Julia Diann Sams - newly elected from Second Ward
John Efroymson - re-elected from Second Ward
John Johnson - re-elected from Third Ward
Richard Booth - re-elected from Third Ward
John Schroeder - re-elected from Fourth Ward
Thomas Hanna - newly elected from Fourth Ward
Richard C. Gray - newly elected from Fifth Ward
Rochella Thorpe - newly elected from Fifth Ward
The newly elected and re-elected Alderpersons took the Oath of
Office and were sworn in by City Clerk Paolangeli.
ELECTION OF ACTING MAYOR:
Mayor Nichols entertained nominations from the floor for the
position of Acting Mayor.
Alderperson Johnson nominated Alderperson Booth for the position
and his nomination was seconded by Alderperson Schroeder.
The motion carried unanimously.
January 1, 1994
Alderperson Booth took the Oath of Office and was sworn in by
City Clerk Paolangeli.
ALTERNATE ACTING MAYOR:
Mayor Nichols entertained nominations from the floor for the
position of Alternate Acting Mayor.
Alderperson Shenk nominated Alderperson Johnson for the position
of Alternate Acting Mayor and his nomination was seconded by
Alderperson Gray. The motion carried unanimously.
Alderperson Johnson took the Oath of Office and was sworn in by
City Clerk Paolangeli.
REMARKS FROM MAYOR NICHOLS:
Mayor Nichols read the following statement to Council:
"After two terms as Mayor I look back at the past four years as
ones of making difficult choices in a time of great stress for
many people in our City and for City government.
As I began to prepare these remarks I started to list the
problems and failures in our society of which you are all aware
(Ithaca is not exempt from any of them) but I decided this is not
the time to dwell on the difficulties, nor even the
accomplishments of the past.
As we begin a new year I want to, instead, focus on those things
which Ithacans and their elected officials can do to improve the
economic and social climate for ourselves. We have a lot to do.
There are five areas on which I want to concentrate the attention
of Council and its committees. They are Inter-Institutional
Relations, Economic Development, Youth, Planning and City
Administration. I will address each of them briefly.
The boundaries of the Ithaca metropolitan area extend well beyond
the City limits. Progress on the issues of transportation,
(including public transit), housing, infrastructure, information
systems, human services, and economic health require the combined
efforts of the County, the Town and the City. As our largest
institution, we expect Cornell to participate. This is the time
to build on the joint planning that has begun among us. I am
appointing a Council committee to lead the City's share in this
enterprise.
We must face the fact that the health of the City requires the
development of jobs with a future. We have the opportunity now
to apply for the creation of an economic development zone in our
most distressed areas. We need to do all that we can to foster
the maintenance and growth of retail and professional downtown
businesses. This will require the participation of the private
sector with government. Perhaps the creation of a business
improvement district will need to be re-visited. In any event, I
am appointing a Council committee to bring all our resources
together for economic development.
It is a cliche to say that the youth of our community are its
future. Right now that future is in trouble. While we have an
excellent Youth Bureau, active community centers and participate
in the jobs program of the Partnership for Youth, we have not
brought all of these interests together. Unfortunately, our
relationship with the schools is peripheral. There are many
young people who need constructive outlets for their energy. I
am appointing a Council committee to bring these problems into
more public focus and to guide the City's actions on this vital
need.
The Council committee on planning has a full slate of projects on
its agenda. We need to work on the implementation of the Inlet
Island Land Use Study, to re-visit the previous plans for the
January 1, 1994
North side to promote affordable housing, to continue the study
of the future of Southwest Park, to complete the re-zoning of
Meadow Street, to review the downtown design plan and to develop
and implement a City bicycle plan. At long last we expect the
contracts to be let in 1994 for the Route 96/Octopus project.
We'll need to work closely with the State on final design
details.
Finally, in terms of Council committees, I expect the Budget and
Administration Committee to examine, with me, how we can continue
to move our budgeting process into a program budgeting structure
that encourages our departments and employees to be even more
efficient and effective in providing services to the public. I
hope that we will soon see the resolution of all our labor
contract negotiations in a way that meets the essential needs of
our employees while maintaining our responsibility for prudent
management.
So far I have addressed only the structural roles of Council
committees. The City's operations and efforts depend on the
services of the hundreds of citizens who volunteer their time and
effort to the many boards, commissions, and committees that make
up the whole of City government. They deserve our heartfelt
appreciation and thanks. I'll be talking to them directly about
their agendas and goals for the coming year.
From time to time I have appointed special task forces to involve
even more Ithacans in addressing critical problems that face us.
We have taken action on the recommendations of these task forces,
such as the Downtown Vision Task Force and the recent task force
on Police/Community relations. I believe that we need a new task
force to consider the ongoing problems of crime and drug use.
The various issues that I have laid out for Council, including
youth, education, jobs, economic development and so on are, of
course, central to long term solutions. But in the short term we
must see how we can consolidate our efforts to meet the real and
perceived concerns of our residents. I am eager to hear the
ideas of all interested parties on how to best structure that
task force.
Finally, I am delighted with the membership and enthusiasm of
this new Common Council. It's good to see four women and the
first Afro-American woman sitting here. I look forward to
working with you to make the City of Ithaca an even more special
place. I wish all of Council and all of you here and all the
residents of Ithaca a happy and productive new year.
ADJOURNMENT:
On a motion the meeting adjourned at 12:25 p.m.
Callista F. Paolangeli Benjamin Nichols
City Clerk Mayor