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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