I am away on vacation and will miss Council on 7/11.
Cortney
Monday, July 11, 2011
Council, Comm of Whole - 2012 Budget 6/27
I attended Council and Commitee of the Whole on 6/27 and here's what I saw.
Budget (discussed during COW). We will lose 10%-15% of our General Fund revenue starting in 2012 due to Ohio's approved budget. We are in trouble, and we need to revisit decisions like shared services (fire, police, building dpt, administrative, tax). We should look at outourced payroll. We should force all Village employees and officials to make their own copies and type their own docs. We should elminate cell phones for all but Dpt heads, and in those cases, offer no more than texting. We should discontinue car allowances. We should stop answering the phone and take all calls via voice mail. We should consolidate all data and phone plans to 1 vendor. We should cancel many phone charges we incur today. We shoudl standardize our IT platform. We should stop mailing invoives to residents, unless we charge an additional processing fee. We should invest in energy efficient windows in the admin building. We should invest in LED lighting in the street lamps. These last two come from perm improvements, where we're not suffering as badly. We've got to act NOW, and act boldly. Business as usual is officially dead.
Fireworks. Glad to see we'll pay for 100% of fireworks from private donations. A great event, for sure, but we don't have the resources to pay.
Work Hours. I think setting hours each day with no holiday exclusions is reasonable.
Health Care premium increase. I am uncomfortable with the huge increase in premiums vs last year, however we saved significant $$$ last year and this seems to unravel the savings only. Further, there are concessions by employees which is also a help. I am disappointed but still believe Center For Local Gov'ts Pool is the best option.
Public Housing. Again, I think we are missing out on a potentially lucrative financial situation in exchange for cooperating with the County. We have low income residents, let's not kid ourselves (Section 8 is available to ANY qualifying landlord). And this is a good thing! I think decentralized low income residents are a far superior setup vs concentration a la Over the Rhine in the 1970s-2000s. We should consider participation.
Calender of Events. I like Denice's idea very much and think this rigor can reduce our instances of emergency legislation.
I voted in the affirmative on all votes. Of note: approving health care of which i voted yes per the above.
Cortney
ICRCTV.COM
Budget (discussed during COW). We will lose 10%-15% of our General Fund revenue starting in 2012 due to Ohio's approved budget. We are in trouble, and we need to revisit decisions like shared services (fire, police, building dpt, administrative, tax). We should look at outourced payroll. We should force all Village employees and officials to make their own copies and type their own docs. We should elminate cell phones for all but Dpt heads, and in those cases, offer no more than texting. We should discontinue car allowances. We should stop answering the phone and take all calls via voice mail. We should consolidate all data and phone plans to 1 vendor. We should cancel many phone charges we incur today. We shoudl standardize our IT platform. We should stop mailing invoives to residents, unless we charge an additional processing fee. We should invest in energy efficient windows in the admin building. We should invest in LED lighting in the street lamps. These last two come from perm improvements, where we're not suffering as badly. We've got to act NOW, and act boldly. Business as usual is officially dead.
Fireworks. Glad to see we'll pay for 100% of fireworks from private donations. A great event, for sure, but we don't have the resources to pay.
Work Hours. I think setting hours each day with no holiday exclusions is reasonable.
Health Care premium increase. I am uncomfortable with the huge increase in premiums vs last year, however we saved significant $$$ last year and this seems to unravel the savings only. Further, there are concessions by employees which is also a help. I am disappointed but still believe Center For Local Gov'ts Pool is the best option.
Public Housing. Again, I think we are missing out on a potentially lucrative financial situation in exchange for cooperating with the County. We have low income residents, let's not kid ourselves (Section 8 is available to ANY qualifying landlord). And this is a good thing! I think decentralized low income residents are a far superior setup vs concentration a la Over the Rhine in the 1970s-2000s. We should consider participation.
Calender of Events. I like Denice's idea very much and think this rigor can reduce our instances of emergency legislation.
I voted in the affirmative on all votes. Of note: approving health care of which i voted yes per the above.
Cortney
ICRCTV.COM
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Council Meeting 6/13
I attended Council on 6/13 and here's what I saw.
In house installation of new Fire Dpt alarm system - I think this is great opportunistic savings, and it's a great way to offset big cost increases. For instance, why couldn't a Fire Guy/Girl answer the main Village phone number? Figure out a fair perk for double duty and leverage their need to be in the building whenever not on a run. Well done.
Online payments. Well done Jeff, let's expand! Trash fees, Income tax, etc.
Extra Sidewalk replacement $$ this year. With Miami Rd grant (great), we can authorize some additional sidewalk creation and replacement. I would like to see the east side of East Street, between East Bound and West Bound Wooster. There should be a sidewalk and a crosswalk there.
Hamilton County Development $$ participation. I am slowly learning about this. It is grant money in exchange for the possibility of low income housing units, to be placed in Ham Co suburbs outside of the City of Cincinnati. I do not want property value erosion, no on does, but a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) doesn't solve problems, while decentralizing low income households seems to make great sense. The argument is: decentralized low income citizens see and matriculate to higher income. Concentration doesn't allow for a new point of view. I feel we should at least investigate this. "Control" is the argument batted around, but it's a thinly veiled argument to keep low income people out of Mariemont. With Section 8 already available to ANY Village landlord, we probably already have low income families here. Is this program right? I don't know, but I would welcome discussion at least as a 1st step. We're walking away from real grant money and the Village sorely needs income now (and in the future)
Emergency Ordinance popularity - we do last minute legislation too often. Our lack of planning hurts the cause of Democracy in the Village. And it looks bad. We should back up the Calendar 2 meetings (1 mo) to avoid 3 readings in one night. We can do better on some of our Emergency legislation.
Disabled/Handicap parking at Belltower. I think we should seriously consider adding disabled only parking, but I feel full Council needs to be in on the decision. My idea of STREET handicapped parking was not even considered prior to me bringing it up. And my idea solves the extra width requirement without taking an additional valuable spot. We need group think here. Not just a couple of folks making big decisions without Council.
I voted in the affirmative on all votes, as all were procedural in nature. Liquor license suspension is for an interesting, novel adult pool party. I'm supportive of this and would like to see it broadened (carefully). Additional stop signs seem to be popping up a bit too frequently, but I am not in opposition of additional stop points in the Village.
www.icrctv.com
Cortney
In house installation of new Fire Dpt alarm system - I think this is great opportunistic savings, and it's a great way to offset big cost increases. For instance, why couldn't a Fire Guy/Girl answer the main Village phone number? Figure out a fair perk for double duty and leverage their need to be in the building whenever not on a run. Well done.
Online payments. Well done Jeff, let's expand! Trash fees, Income tax, etc.
Extra Sidewalk replacement $$ this year. With Miami Rd grant (great), we can authorize some additional sidewalk creation and replacement. I would like to see the east side of East Street, between East Bound and West Bound Wooster. There should be a sidewalk and a crosswalk there.
Hamilton County Development $$ participation. I am slowly learning about this. It is grant money in exchange for the possibility of low income housing units, to be placed in Ham Co suburbs outside of the City of Cincinnati. I do not want property value erosion, no on does, but a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) doesn't solve problems, while decentralizing low income households seems to make great sense. The argument is: decentralized low income citizens see and matriculate to higher income. Concentration doesn't allow for a new point of view. I feel we should at least investigate this. "Control" is the argument batted around, but it's a thinly veiled argument to keep low income people out of Mariemont. With Section 8 already available to ANY Village landlord, we probably already have low income families here. Is this program right? I don't know, but I would welcome discussion at least as a 1st step. We're walking away from real grant money and the Village sorely needs income now (and in the future)
Emergency Ordinance popularity - we do last minute legislation too often. Our lack of planning hurts the cause of Democracy in the Village. And it looks bad. We should back up the Calendar 2 meetings (1 mo) to avoid 3 readings in one night. We can do better on some of our Emergency legislation.
Disabled/Handicap parking at Belltower. I think we should seriously consider adding disabled only parking, but I feel full Council needs to be in on the decision. My idea of STREET handicapped parking was not even considered prior to me bringing it up. And my idea solves the extra width requirement without taking an additional valuable spot. We need group think here. Not just a couple of folks making big decisions without Council.
I voted in the affirmative on all votes, as all were procedural in nature. Liquor license suspension is for an interesting, novel adult pool party. I'm supportive of this and would like to see it broadened (carefully). Additional stop signs seem to be popping up a bit too frequently, but I am not in opposition of additional stop points in the Village.
www.icrctv.com
Cortney
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Recycling conversation with Resident
I was approached by a Resident who said "what would it take to double our recycling rate" (we're currently 1st in Hamilton Co). We ended up saying what would it take to lead the state/nation?
He suggested increasing fees, but providing easier and easier access to recycling and composting. I shared the City of Cincinnati program that uses 96gallon cans every other week as an example.
During an early Monday run I noticed about 20% of residences pull their trash to the curb! We pay a premium for this service, and it's a shame we waste it.
The question I want to answer is: would residents be willing to support front yard service if it saved them money and improved service. To that end, we need quantitative and qualitative data to figure out how to fashion trash service now to be ready for the fall.
Cortney
He suggested increasing fees, but providing easier and easier access to recycling and composting. I shared the City of Cincinnati program that uses 96gallon cans every other week as an example.
During an early Monday run I noticed about 20% of residences pull their trash to the curb! We pay a premium for this service, and it's a shame we waste it.
The question I want to answer is: would residents be willing to support front yard service if it saved them money and improved service. To that end, we need quantitative and qualitative data to figure out how to fashion trash service now to be ready for the fall.
Cortney
Memorial Day Parade 5/30
I walked in the Memorial Day parade with my daughter Ally. It's a nice event each year and good opportunity to pause and appreciate the sacrifice of our Armed Forces.
Cortney
Cortney
Council Meeting 5/23
I attended Council on 5/23 and here's what I saw.
Construction Hours. While I'm ok with R&L committee findings, it's a bit complicated. I am very flexible to remove holiday exceptions and allow fewer start and end times.
Online pool and tennis memberships is a huge leap forward for the village. Well done Jeff. Let's expand this further.
I voted in the affirmative on everything. All were procedural except Parking Design which I support due to the broad feasibility study we bolted on.
icrctv.com
Cortney
Construction Hours. While I'm ok with R&L committee findings, it's a bit complicated. I am very flexible to remove holiday exceptions and allow fewer start and end times.
Online pool and tennis memberships is a huge leap forward for the village. Well done Jeff. Let's expand this further.
I voted in the affirmative on everything. All were procedural except Parking Design which I support due to the broad feasibility study we bolted on.
icrctv.com
Cortney
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Special Council Meeting May 17
I attended the Special Council Meeting on May 17 and here's what I saw. Only one agenda topic - discuss the plan to spend Village money on West St Parking.
I think concentrating parking on West street is a bad idea, plain and simple. Some parking ok, but 70+ spots means safety issues for the MM Elem kids, and and it doesn't address the needs of the Square.
One nice detail that gives me some hope in the process is Martin Koepke's involvement to guide the process. His focus on design has been lacking from previous discussions. So glad he's on the case.
Further, by bolting on a full parking feasibility study, this bad idea becomes a decent one. So it's relatively easy for me to support it.
The other comment I made is on the communication of this emergency meeting. I was not contacted. Only after the meeting was set, was I contacted by Joanee to inform me that the meeting had changed (what meeting?) While I'm only a bit player in this government, I do play a role. And I would like to see better communication.
I voted in the affirmative on the funding of this design phase.
Cortney
I think concentrating parking on West street is a bad idea, plain and simple. Some parking ok, but 70+ spots means safety issues for the MM Elem kids, and and it doesn't address the needs of the Square.
One nice detail that gives me some hope in the process is Martin Koepke's involvement to guide the process. His focus on design has been lacking from previous discussions. So glad he's on the case.
Further, by bolting on a full parking feasibility study, this bad idea becomes a decent one. So it's relatively easy for me to support it.
The other comment I made is on the communication of this emergency meeting. I was not contacted. Only after the meeting was set, was I contacted by Joanee to inform me that the meeting had changed (what meeting?) While I'm only a bit player in this government, I do play a role. And I would like to see better communication.
I voted in the affirmative on the funding of this design phase.
Cortney
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