 Good evening. Before we start the meeting, we're going to read today's tonight's quote. For the last several meetings, I have been reading those quotations almost taking credit for them. I think the credit is due to Madam City Clerk Sue Richards. She comes up with these wonderful quotations for us to ponder on. And what I have decided to do that instead of me reading the quotations, that she should read the quotations from here on. So I will ask her to read the quotation before we start. Madam City Clerk. Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate everything people do for the organization. Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune. Thank you, Sue. I'll call a 21st regular meeting of the Common Counselor Order. Please call the roll, Madam City Clerk. Bowman. D. Berg. E. Berg. Excuse. Serta. Davis. Graf. Kittleson. Manny. Meyer. Montemayor. Ratke. Sagali. Steffen. Excuse. Susha. Van Akron. And Vanderweel. 14 present. Quorum is present. Alderman Davis. Would you please lead us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Alderman Davis. Alderman Graf. Minutes. Thank you, Your Honor. I would move the minutes of the previous Common Counsel meeting and the same stand approved as entered on the record. There's a motion to your second. Second. Under discussion. There being none. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Minutes stand approved. Resignations. Thank you, Your Honor. First one is dated January 26th. Dear Mayor Perez, I'm resigning from the Chicago Library Board of Trustees. Effective immediately. And this is from Susan Hunley. I'd ask for a motion to accept and file. So moved. There's a second. Any discussion on the resignation? All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Resignations is accepted. Next is dated January 23rd to the Honorable Mayor Perez. Let me know in effect of February 1, 2006. I'll resign from the Sheboygan Commission on Aging, Jerry Hemsing. I'd ask for a motion to accept and file. I would so move. Motion to second. Any discussion? All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Resignation accepted. Next is dated January 6th. Dear Mayor Perez, with regret I must resign from my appointment to the city's board of review. Recently married and moved out of the city to the town of Sheboygan. Therefore can no longer serve on the committee. Signed to Ed Gennaro. I'd ask for a motion to accept and file. I'll move. Motion to second. Any discussion? There being none. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Resignation accepted. And the last one is dated January 18th to Dear Mayor Perez. And this is from Sue Dennis advising that she's resigning from the library board. She's the school, the ordinary school district representative and indicates she'll attend the board meetings until a replacement is named in the immediate future. I'll ask for a motion to accept and file. I'll move. Second. Any discussion? There being none. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Resignation accepted. For the appointments. Hereby submit the following appointment for your consideration. Daniel Castro to be considered for appointment to the board of review to fill the unexpired term of Edward Gennaro whose term expires 430.07 signed by the mayor. That will lie over. Mary Liz Town to be considered for appointment to the library board to fill the unexpired term of Sue Dennis whose term expires 430.07. And there's attached, there's a letter from the superintendent of schools, Mr. Sheehan advising that he's requesting that Miss Town be appointed as the school district's designee. As an additional note, this is a representative from the school district that is generally the superintendent in the event that the superintendent does not wish to be a member. He will designate someone. And this has been his designation. And that will lie over. Charlene Dickey to be considered for appointment to the housing authority to fill the unexpired term of Yolanda Graff whose term expires 430.08 signed by the mayor. That will lie over. And David Gallienetti to be considered for appointment to the library board to fill the unexpired term of Susan Humley whose term expires 430.08 signed by the mayor. That will lie over. And on confirmation of appointments, there is the list of election officials. It goes on for a number of pages. This was brought in at the last council meeting. This is for election inspectors for all elections in 2006. And these appointments are pursuant to the request of Madam City Clerk Sue Richards. That has for motion to confirm. Second. Any discussion? There will be a none. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Appointments are confirmed. That is. Thank you. Public forum. Madam City Clerk. Okay. First on the list is Carter Paulus. Carter, if you could give me your home address, please. And you will have five minutes, sir. Thank you. Tonight's subject is problems and solutions. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Start over, please. I missed you. Wait. Start over. Start over. Okay. Thank you. Tonight's subject is problems and solutions. About a year ago, the citizens elected Mayor Juan Perez to bring government back to the people, remove and lower unfair taxation, and make our government more accountable. Almost nothing has happened except save Sheridan Park and some increased public openness. The common council's performance is unacceptable. The solution is to remove those Alderman that refuse adamantly to cooperate in any way with the mayor at every turn by their votes. That's why there are 26 citizens running to replace them. We need to elect a council that will perform. There is a problem with the library board trustees not performing according to law and ordinances in several areas. The solution is for the common council to remove those library trustees from the office forthwith from malfeasance of office or elect a council that will perform. The lack of performance by our city attorney is inadequate. He doesn't even include the mayor in his pronouncements and runs his elected position to his own agenda and not to the city. The solution is to elect a new, young, smart, hungry attorney or change the legal entity now existent to another form of accountability by the common council. The problem with our department heads is a complete lack of accountability in their performance, spending, and conduct. Do you have a few days for this litany? The solution is for the common council to pass ordinances that make them accountable and get the politics out of the business of the city or elect a council that will perform. The problem of the two most important and expensive entities of our city is police and fire. The lack of cooperation and continued growth is astounding. Power corrupts. The solution is to replace the police commissioner with the most disappointing record in our history with one that is accountable to the city by ordinance. Another solution is to make it clear to the unions that we can no longer afford their extravagant demands or they will be replaced with a completely new system that might include a regional fire and enforcement authority by the common council. Other solutions against waste in all areas include shared taxes. You wanted solutions? Quite frankly, the taxpayers of the city demand no less. Thank you. Is Chris Ross? Chris, could you give me your home address please? 640 Mark Ave, Sheboygan Falls. 640, I'm sorry? Mark Avenue, Sheboygan Falls. Mark Avenue? Yes. And you'll have five minutes. Thank you. You're welcome. I have developed an interest in the Meade Public Library after hearing about some of the struggles in the local news. This interest had compelled me to study some of the changes that were implemented by our library board in this transition period. As I'm sure, as everyone is aware, recent budget cuts resulted in a decline of services offered at the library and led director Sharon Winkle to question the security of her position as director. I agree with the library board's perspective that strong leadership is required for this transition period. After performing some research, I believe there are some things Sharon can do to improve the quality of service at Meade Library without stretching resources. I'd like to take a moment to explain how I came to this conclusion. To me, the first step in attempting to understand the issue is to define and measure the factors that influence it. With that in mind, I use an organization that is dedicated to measuring the services a library provides. Hennan's American Public Library Ratings, AppLar for short, annually performs such a function. Meade Library did not make the top 10 list. I decided to focus on the number one library in Meade's population category, the Washington-Centerville Public Library of Ohio, in attempt to learn how to measure excellence. I'd like to share what I found. Cynthia Clink, the director of the number one rated library in the country, in our population category, had a budget of $660,000 and a staff of seven, and built a library that boasts a circulation of 2.2 million items per year. Her library also started over 60 programs designed to educate and enrich her community. Her community recognized her excellence this year by including her in the Dayton's Top 10 Women of 2005. Cynthia has written books and articles about how to improve the library without spending money, and she's used to have mastered. She started programs that include seminars conducted by high school chemistry students for preschoolers, illustrating how science can be more amazing than magic. She has facilitated groups designed to promote literacy among minorities, as well as workshops for minorities designed to help them start small businesses. Programs like these run by volunteers. She is often personally recruited, have had a measurable effect in general well-being. I also wanted to mention some interesting statistics I discovered when I compared the Washington Centerville's annual report with Meade's. Meade has more money to spend per card holder than the number one library. Meade has more money to spend per employee than the number one library. And despite this disparity of funding, the Washington Centerville library has extended their hours while Meade has not only reduced theirs, but has reduced public access to reference librarians and popular material staff. Circulation at the Washington Centerville library has continued to skyrocket while in 2004 needs declined. Washington Centerville has made it a priority to contribute to the local interlibrary loan program while Meade has begun to remove groups of items from our interlibrary loan system. It is also my understanding that Cynthia, along with the other Ohio directors, do not operate under contract. It also might be worth mentioning that four of the top ten libraries in Meade's category are from Ohio. Comparing Sharon's salary and Cynthia's was also interesting. I hope to include these figures in an information source I will soon discuss. Cynthia's dedication to continuous improvement led to further reduction in labor hours needed to run the library. But instead of reorganizing positions and reducing staff, she used those hours in the creation of more community programs and opportunities to improve service in the future. Cynthia's standing in the community makes it easy for her to approach people and organizations in the community for donations of time and money. People in her community respect and appreciate the work she is doing. My curiosity has also brought me to last week's library board meeting. I'm glad I went because it gave me an opportunity to listen to what Alderman Manny had to say. I believe Mr. Manny is an intelligent, talented individual who is turning his high regard for his community into action by participating on both the library board and the Common Council. I believe it takes more than money to create a success like the one illustrated in Ohio. I believe it also takes a vision. I feel that some of the members of the library board also demonstrated that type of vision last week. But I did not see it demonstrated by our director. I'm here tonight to ask the library board and the Common Council to recognize the need for its department heads not only their behavior, but for their professional performance as well. Perhaps the council and the board can consider a system of metrics in order to improve the library's performance through this period of transition. When I see metrics, I mean to look at a set of measurable... Excuse me, Chris. Your time is up. Okay, thank you. There's a motion second to allow how many minutes? Until he completes. Thank you. Up to two minutes. Motion to allow for two minutes to complete the statements. All those in favor say aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Please continue, Mr. Thank you. I'm here tonight to ask the library board and the Common Council to recognize the need for its department heads to be held accountable. In conclusion, I would like to offer members of the council the sources of the facts I've referred to along with some examples of the topics I used to illustrate my concerns. I'm going to share with you my website along with needs in the top 10 haplar libraries annual reports. I'm going to try to post links to articles I found about Cynthia, the 2005 woman of the year, as well as articles that she wrote regarding to how improve library services without spending money. I'd also like to include and discuss these methodologies of process improvement designed to improve service and decrease costs at the same time. And for that, I'd like to thank the Common Council for its time. Thank you, Chris. And last on the list, excuse me, is Dimple Adams? Dimple, can I have your home address, please? Yes. It's 1424 Virginia Avenue. And you will have five minutes. Okay, thanks, Susan. Can you give me a heads up when I'm about a minute away? Sure. Thank you. I like this. I'm afraid that everything people do for the organization and nothing else can quite substitute for a few well chosen well timed sincere words of praise. They're absolutely free and worth a fortune. I'm afraid we haven't been getting a lot of that lately. And our city government words of praise for all the hard work that everybody does. And I do believe that everybody works including Mayor Perez including the council including city clerk and our attorney and all the other department heads such as the police chief and the fire chief and public works and so forth. I have all the faith in the world that all of you sincerely work very, very hard. I have what I don't have is a lot of trust that some of your efforts are maybe directed in the right way because because of that statement I don't hear a lot of praise when I can hear someone slam older persons as we have seen in the paper as we have heard on the radio and make them personal that I have a problem with that it creates a lot of disrespect in my book. I respect every one of you I respect the position that you hold I don't agree with all of you but I respect the office that you hold but I don't trust all of you anymore and I'm not going to name names you probably know who I trust and who I don't but it's hard to trust an organization too that has members an organization that's supposed to be non-political an organization that's non-profit that has involved itself in every major issue that we've had the past year they have gotten up here and they have complained about all the money that's spent and I think needed at times they have complained about they have used every source available to them to get their message out they've used the newspaper they've used the radio they've used this public forum they've used letters to the editor to slam personal older persons but yet they are quote non-political I don't see how you can have it both ways that's the perfect example of that for three months they had caused this brouhaha over the library situation now I don't know Mrs. Winkle personally but I intend to get to know her because I believe her I have no reason not to believe that she thought that she might need something in writing to protect her job because this quote the organization had been slamming her for three months are better okay so we have a big mess we thought we had it solved when we had the news conference and everybody was like okay maybe this is going to be okay and then all of a sudden now we have a brouhaha over an amendment that was in that agreement that our city attorney was not involved in coming to the to the compromise but now he's being blamed for not getting the word out one minute temple to the mayor I don't understand this you know when I was a child the first president that I can remember was President Truman and my mom and my pop always said the buck stops here with everything that goes on the buck stops here and I do not see attorney McLean as being where the buck should have stopped with this issue because he wasn't involved in the compromise and I think that those in charge have got to take that on thank you thank you temple that's it Mr. Paula's Mr. Ross Mr. Adams thank you very much for addressing the council tonight because some issues were raised regarding the library situation I think it's important for me to speak on that particular issue in effort to clarify some of some of the misunderstandings perhaps there appears first let me say this when I became mayor I knew perfectly well that all my political enemies my critics chronic complainers were going to intensely scrutinize everything I said or didn't say or didn't do I haven't been surprised that's occurring the beauty of all this the beauty of all this is that is what open government is all about just like making sausage I told my staff this morning the process is ugly and nasty but the product is such a wonderful product open government is not nice folks it's nasty sometimes I would wish that it wouldn't be and I would ask that everyone who participate in open government not make it nasty and ugly and disrespectful I would ask that we address the issues and take away the personalities attack the issue don't attack the person when the library board decided to grant Sharon Winkle a contract there was an issue as to where they could they had that power or not my understanding speaking to attorney McLean my understanding from the department of public instruction with I believe every one of you have a copy of this is it yes the library board has the power the authority the autonomy to grant that kind of a contract we have nothing to do with that the council has nothing to do with that it's easy and it's tempting it's so tempting to want to micromanage and say you can't do that it's not our jurisdiction there's a lot of things I don't agree in the county and the school district they have that authority I don't so we need to be careful and very mindful of how far our authority extends when that contract was there were some concerns raised about certain elements certain stipulations in the contract dealing with the five year contract dealing with the sick leave and so forth I as mayor took it upon myself as I would any time and I would do it again in the snap of a finger it's my responsibility to meet with my department heads I have that responsibility and no one can take that away from me I spoke with Ms. Winkle and I asked her can you look at your contract again can we make it better for the community make it better for all those that are concerned she was willing to do that and I thank her for that that took a lot of courage in her part took a lot of willingness because she had a contract already I never negotiated anything with her there's been issues raised that I negotiated I never negotiated anything with her I never agreed to any agreement you don't see my name signed anywhere I have that right and responsibility with my department heads and asked if they worked through a problem area where it affects them because that area affects me too it affects you, the council we worked with that process she agreed to reopen her contract and make some changes thus the amendments during those casual conversations yes there was a one person involved that wasn't a city employee that's a good friend of Ms. Winkle a good friend of mine Marilyn Donahue she loves the library she loves the library she was concerned because there was so much uproar and she wanted to make some sort of effort to work things out and she asked can we work talk it over fine I'll do it any time it has nothing to do with contractual obligations of the city during the course of that conversation it was mentioned that if the amendments were passed and the council or even myself proceeded to try to remove the board members that voted for it that she would say I won't agree to those amendments my position is it doesn't matter if it doesn't snow the next three months I'll withdraw my amendments that's her way of rationalizing why she's agreeing to open the contract to look at the problem areas that's the way I understood it that's the way it was when we came here together she sat there I sat here she made her announcements she agreed to reopen the contract look at it and she did it was never once mentioned that there was going to be a stipulation that would revert the contract I heard in the community good enough for us let's move on it turns out that there was a draft prepared I believe Wednesday the 25th of January I got a copy of that draft of the amendments at about 9.30 I believe a.m. from attorney McLean but 9.30 I looked at it I opened it and I said oh it's another one of those agreements I'll look at it a little bit later on it was such a busy day but lately every day is busy for me later on I remembered at about almost 3 o'clock I emailed attorney McLean and said I haven't had a chance to look at this it's been a very busy day I'll look at it later I didn't if I made a mistake because I didn't I'm sorry but I didn't there's a lot of emails a lot of agreements I don't look at it right away there's going to be a lot in the future I didn't open it I didn't read it within that hour span I went to a room tax advisory committee meeting and we took care of business and about 10 minutes before 5 the meeting was over and I had in my mind I need to talk to attorney McLean because he had emailed me so I went into his office he had someone there I waited a little bit the person left I went in and I asked what is the deal and there was two concerns that attorney McLean had one is the two year automatic rollover and the other one was who pays for that contract if the war should happen and Ms. Winkle were to be let go who is obligated to make that final lump sum payment my thoughts were the council attorney McLean thought no because the library board and the president don't have the power to bind the common council with contractual obligations I asked is there anything else there wasn't the next day I was going to be I was going to be out of town Thursday and Friday quite frankly folks I was anxious to go on I had a long day and I'm ready to rumble I took off and that was it maybe I shouldn't have done that I did people want to blame me for that I'll accept all the blame people want to apologize for that there was no malice no evil intent no nothing the next day is when attorney McLean actually got a revision and I believe what he indicated to me is that that's what he noticed that that particular clause was there goes back and looks at the other clause yes it's there and that was the day the library board was going to approve it and they did and there was an article in the paper about this extra ticker that's when I read it because I started getting telephone calls from some alderman and some people I didn't know it was going to be part of the contract I'll say it again I did not know it was going to be part of the contract I'm to blame because I didn't read it and I'll accept that blame but don't blame attorney McLean don't blame the library board don't blame the library director I will accept that blame if anybody is to accept blame I will take it attorney McLean is a very competent decent attorney he's a decent man we may not agree sometimes but he impresses me and his heart is in this city government anybody questions that? I'll be glad to debate with you Sharon Winkle is not to blame she was looking out for her best interest like we all do Sharon Winkle is a very intelligent woman she's a wonderful woman she's well committed to the library she's given a lot of her life to the library and I have higher respect for her if anybody is to blame blame me I will take the blame I have taken it already I have been called a liar we have witnessed an unfortunate unfortunate surge of just political attacks against me I'll take those too that's okay with me but there's no need for this to continue there's no need for this to go on we need to get going the library board is within its own authority you are within your authority you do have the power to remove them you do have the power to appropriate quite frankly that's about the extent of it when I make appointments if you don't like them when the budget comes in for the library approve it or don't approve it that's the extent of her involvement there comes a time when we need to let individual boards and commissions do their job without micromanaging everything they do we've got the water utility that's an independent commission we appoint the members are we gonna go up there try to tell them how to do it housing authority is another one redevelopment authority there's all kinds of different commissions and authorities that have autonomy we also have Alderman Manny who has been criticized and attacked Alderman Manny is a man of character and integrity and a good pastor and his heart is in Sheboygan and is in community does not deserve the bashing just like Attorney McLean does not deserve it just like Sharon Winkle doesn't deserve it just like a lot of the board members don't deserve it folks if you want to blame somebody here I am and if you want an apology I'll give it to you I'm sorry I would hope that we could move on the other criticism that's been in the air lately is that I met with the taxpayers alliance yes I did secretly no I didn't privately yes I did I meet privately with organizations all the time I meet privately with citizens all the time because they want to discuss issues just with me there's nothing wrong with that don't make something else out of it there isn't anything there people will continue to ask me to meet with me privately and you know what? I'll continue to do it that's just the way it is that's the nature of my job people come in and they want to talk to me I will talk to them some people have asked that I meet them at their homes I'll go to their homes it's responsive government I will continue to do that I have an open door policy and I will continue to honor it that is my statement regarding that I hope that clarifies a lot of those issues regarding the library board we can move on I know that there's about seven alderman who called in and I didn't know this but they called in after a barrage of attack from a radio station and they wanted special meeting I'm not sure of the committee of the whole or the council the reasons were varied the library board, the library contract contractual agreements questions on library issues and so forth I would hope alderman that we don't start doing business out of a radio station this is where we do business council chambers this is where we address the issues council chambers people elected us to address issues in the council chambers not on local radio stations that entertain people please honor the requests the people and do business in this council chambers thank you moving on before I talk about the MEG health care costs I'd ask for Ms. Kim Swisher to please step up to the podium council Ms. Kim Swisher is our new manager of tourism she came in to work not even a month ago and she's doing a wonderful job she's hit the ground running the people that have had contact with her are very very impressed with her I am very impressed with her the work you're already doing we look forward to great times with you my husband and I are actually moving to the city next Wednesday and I've been on the job this is the beginning of my third week and I'm still here and that's great I've had a chance to tour our lodging properties I have one yet to visit I also had a chance to tour the Kola Art Center and the Stephanie Wild Theater and Center for Performing Arts as well as several other places and we live in a beautiful community proud of and I look forward to working with you and I look forward to promoting the heck out of the city thank you Kim welcome to the team Meg Unit I'll be asking Chief Kirk to talk to us a little bit about it and Lieutenant Kirk Brasser but I just wanted to point out that we've got a situation where our Meg Unit is in danger of not being funded anymore and the Meg Unit is really a very very important component of our police department because they deal with heavy drug trafficking they deal with the illegal drug issue and the trafficking that we have the drug use that we have in our community it's getting so bad that our young generation is no longer interested in pot in marijuana and want the heavy stuff we are seeing more and more sprouting of drug houses and meth labs and so forth and I want to address that drug problem I have and I know Chief Kirk agrees with me zero tolerance for illegal drug trafficking and drug illegal drug use I will do everything I possibly can it's within my effort my authority to make sure we stomp this problem that haunts our community in our nation but in particular our community that is destroying not only families but children youth we cannot allow that to happen we need to money reappropriate it there is a document going into finance I would ask all of them to please consider it's approval the Chief and I are also putting together a five year plan I'm the type of mayor that likes to plan in years instead of one year to the other so we are putting together Chief and I and Lieutenant Kirk put together a five year plan where we hope that we can weather this bad time this bad financial times that we have so that next year when times are rough and if the following year the times are rough we will have that money set aside so we can tackle the drug issue that is very important to me that is very important to Chief Kirk and I support him wholeheartedly on this Chief Kirk would you please address the council sir Thank you Mr. Mayor Common Council I stand here tonight I want to say thank you for listening Mr. Mayor thank you for listening to the concerns we have to the details of the problem we see and for responding the MEG unit is probably one of the best shared services that we have going in the City of Shboygan and County of Shboygan MEG unit stands for the Shboygan county multi-jurisdictional drug enforcement group basically it's also known as our drug unit it started way back before I began employment in 1977 in the City of Shboygan we took over as lead agency somewhere the Sheriff's Department used to run this and be the lead agency we took over lead agency about 1999 2000 there about under Chief Eichmann the drug unit is one of 26 drug task forces in the state of Wisconsin and we are the city as a lead agency is responsible for the administrative financial and coordination efforts of this unit it's comprised or it's directed by an oversight committee and this oversight committee involves all the Chiefs of the agencies that are involved this is the Village of Kohler, Shboygan Falls Plymouth, Elkhart Lake City of Shboygan Sheriff's Department the District Attorney's Office and the State Patrol it's comprised the drug unit is comprised of the City of Shboygan placing two officers in there and Lieutenant Kirk Brasser is presently the person in charge of that unit we also have one other patrol officer who acts as an investigator Shboygan County Sheriff's Department puts two people two detectives in the City of Plymouth places one officer in this unit the drug canine unit is handled by Shboygan Falls Police Officer who assists in our med unit other cities also put in manpower and funding when need arises Lieutenant Kirk Brasser is here tonight to answer any of those questions you have as to the operation as to what funding is spent in what areas if that comes up but over the years how we operate this unit is the use of federal grants and then the state would also put in a penalty assessment money for example in the year 2000 this is where the real concern arises in the year 2000 we received approximately $86,000 in funding from combination of state and federal sources of that $86,000 we returned about $3,800 of those monies because we didn't need them in 2005 we received approximately the same amount of funding $86,000 and that year we returned $3,200 last year we were told that since Homeland Security money was the focus of the federal government was looking into Homeland Security we were told that the burn grant and it's called the burn memorial justice assistant grant which is the federal money we were using would be getting smaller and smaller was beginning to dry up they said for 2006 you best reevaluate your concern we were told of this we got Lieutenant Kurt Brasser in the office and we talked about it we stressed the importance of downsizing as far as our budget what do we need how can we get by and what's the bare minimum now tell us and then apply for that amount of money he came back and he applied for $66,000 of that $66,000 this year the burn grant money only had $1.9 million to give out to the state of Wisconsin of those 26 drug task forces there was over $4 million in request for the operation of these units as a result of when they determined how to give out this money 10 of these 26 drug task forces received zero money for 2006 of the $66,000 we requested we received $26,000 and an additional $10,000 in penalty assessment for approximately $38,000 that gives us a loss deduction of about $28,000 as soon as we were advised of this in December of 2005 we began to meet with the other agencies other entities that were part of our task force to determine where are we going with this we met over the last several months we met with the mayor several times and once again I wish to say thank you you speak of a response of government and this is going to be one example are we responsive to the real need I don't think I need to talk about the concern of drugs in our community I believe it's our number one problem I spoke on that repeatedly our city is becoming worse in drugs I spoke to a person the other day who husbands told her things were getting better and I think our department has led to the violence that is addressed with the drug concern however the drug concern is beginning larger and larger and we are dealing more with harder drugs and we need to respond and I thank you very much for listening to us this is a concern not only in 2006 as we're $28,000 short I'm not sure what we're going to do once we run dry of that money we're given but the real concern begins the plan is hugely important is that in 2007 we've been told to expect a much greater reduction in the dollars you're allotted are very possibly zero money from the federal and state government so if we have no money in 2007 that's why the plan five year plan is huge and we're asking at this time once again please I believe the I provided some facts and numbers to the mayor and to the other department heads this morning we have those if you wish to see the number of drugs and the amount of drugs that were seized and number of arrests we are up in a number of arrests and seizures this year so with that if you have any questions please fire away if you have any questions Lieutenant Kurt Brasser is here why don't we let the Lieutenant Brasser talk I'd ask for a motion to open the floor can you oppose motion carries floor is open thank you Mr. Mayor I would also like to thank you for addressing this issue it's great to understand that you understand the importance of drug enforcement to law enforcement it's important for everyone to understand that drug enforcement affects the overall crime rate of the entire area even if you're not involved in drugs you never have been involved in drugs the violent crimes that we're seeing the vandalisms, the thefts, the break-ins much of that is attributed to the drug trade here in the city of Sheboygan numbers often use when you talk about how drugs affect the crime rate 70 to 80 percent of all crime can be attributed to the drug trade and drug use so if you're going to be serious about law enforcement and be proactive in law enforcement which you try to be you need to understand the importance of drug enforcement a couple other things I'd like to explain when we're talking about the MEG unit and our funding and our budgeting we are totally self-sufficient when we were getting the funding from the federal government through the burn grant that made us totally self-sufficient that means we paid for everything from our vehicle maintenance to our training our overtime, our part-time secretary everything except the base salaries of the officers was paid out of that grant it's also important to understand that this is not only a state issue, this is a national issue the burn funding is a national program which is being cut so there's drug task force all over the country that are being dramatically cut reduced or eliminated it's not unique to Wisconsin and I think we're fortunate this year that we got the money that we did based on our success and the fact that the the Office of Justice Assistance understands our success and that's why we got the money that we did and a lot of the other task force were cut no task force in the state of Wisconsin that's also an important thing to understand so I think we fared fairly well for this year although it's a significant cut is there any other questions any questions for Lieutenant Bresser got a green light, thank you very much thank you the next item of health care cost given that I spoke a little heavily on another issue derivative of the public forum I will pass on that health care cost to comment and I will say that for the next one so you'll have to listen to me then on the health care cost consent agenda thank you Your Honor I would move that items 21-1 through 21-29 that on all those items NEROs be accepted and placed on file NERCs be accepted and adopted and we pass the resolutions and general ordinances are second second under discussion Alderman Sushin thank you Your Honor I would ask that we refer 21-5 to public protection and safety 21-5 well just simply ask for it we can refer it please note 21-5 will be referred to public protection and safety thank you thank you Mr. Mayor I would ask that we pull document 21-4 out and just bring this to the attention of the public I was there in Alderman Bauman's place this was the Board of Parks and Forestry Commission meeting and we voted on giving the Sheboygan Youth Football League a home and I'm so excited to let them the public know that Roosevelt Park now will be the place where they will play their games they had quite a few issues and concerns they were playing at Kiwanis Park and it was getting very difficult for them there and now that we all came together and agreed that Roosevelt Park would be a perfect place for them we've really given them a place to to call their own a few details to be worked out with the Department of Public Works as far as lighting and so on and so far but that all can be worked out as I said we're very happy that we've given them a home wonderful thank you Alderman Kelsen you didn't want to pull it out for any other than for just discussion on your part anything else Alderman Segali thank you Mr. Mayor if I just may request from the Council and from you is that when we do pull resolutions off the list if we could just explain to the citizens what their resolution is I know Alderman Kelsen said in a fine manner but this 21-5 is the RO by the Chief of Police submitting the department's fourth quarter 2005 report I think people at least they've come it's come to my attention they would like to know more a little bit of what the consent does if we could do that as we pull one out it would be helpful to them sure we can do that thank you thank you and again the RO by the Chief of Police submitting the department's fourth quarter 2005 report that's what's being referred back to PP anything else there being none we will call the RO D-Bird Serta Davis Graf Kiddelsen Manny Montemayor Radke Segali Sushia Van Agren Van Der Wiel and Bellman motion carries communications and petitions 21-30 21-31 to be referred report of officers 2 21-32 by the Board of Parks and Forestry Commissioners recommended repeating and recreating section 74-2 of the municipal code relating to the establishment of parks that will be referred to public works 21-33 I'd ask for a motion to accept and file you want to make a motion that we accept and file the RO is there a second second under discussion under discussion your Honor this is a document that came out of a building use committee it shows the city of Sheboygan Police Department building proposed project schedule along with that there's also the city hall design and catch up regarding the city hall remodeling and I thought we'd bring that to council so that everybody sees the document and has it before them and can prepare questions or whatever may need to be done thank you all of them Graf any other questions okay did you roll call on that all those in favor of the motion to accept and file please say aye those motion carries 21-34 through 21-59 to be referred accept please note 21-47 by the city clerks submitting a communication from Tom Finnegan complaining about a parking ticket he received on 8th street on January 11th that is being referred to public protection and safety and not transit commission please note resolutions introduced 3 21-60 by Alderman Sousha authorizing the opening of North 21st Street between Kelley Med Drive and North Avenue to northbound traffic Alderman Sousha motion to thank you I would move that the resolution be put upon its passage there's a motion to put the resolution upon its passage in a second under discussion thank you Mr. Mayor I guess I would just like to say that I was in attendance at several of these public protection and safety meetings where this issue was discussed and I feel strongly that we need to listen to what our police officers are saying to us that we need to keep the street closed it's a real safety issue here and I think we need to listen to what they're telling us so I think I will have to vote no on this resolution okay thank you Alderman Tiddelson, Alderman Segali thank you Mr. Mayor I do have to go along with Alderman Kellison on this I lived in that area at one time so I know what it is all about in that little section I think it's very dangerous and I think that we should also listen to the people who are the experts in this field and they did all of this work for the past year and they are saying it's better to keep it closed so I will also vote to keep it closed thank you very much Alderman Segali, Alderman D. Berg sir thank you Your Honor I also had some of those meetings and the officer that did the study on there did quite a good study and there were quite a few accidents and not only would it stop, not stop cut down on a lot of the accidents but the price of all the signage that would have to go up there's somebody amounts of money that I heard thrown around some of those nights there's quite a bit of money involved in making all these signs and then if they want to do it just for a six month period that doesn't make sense to waste that money on six months so I will vote against this document thank you Alderman D. Berg, Alderman Sousha thank you Your Honor I would like to make a motion to open the floor to Officer Williams who did the study so he could explain what some of his findings were there's a motion to open the floor is there any discussion on opening the floor Alderman Serda on the opening of the floor can I also add that you said Sergeant Terchinski and then also Officer Williams too if we could add that to the motion any problem with that, any problem with the second we've got open in the floor for three officers any further discussion excuse me, who are the officers just two Williams any further, all those in favor State Aye any opposed, motion carries we will open the floor to Officer Williams first Officer Williams please address the council thank you Mr. Mayor Council I started this project in January of last year during that time I was assigned to the intersection of Calumet North Avenue as a traffic reduction enforcement while there I recognized that there were more accidents happening on North 21st Street at North Avenue as well as Calumet Drive during my study I found that in a two year period there were 26 accidents and last May we were able to get that closed off for a six month period which has ended up being longer than that time span and in that eight month period as it is there was one accident in that area Alderperson Sushia I believe you did this paperwork I just received today a bit of a study here I'd like to commend you it's a very nice job that you did on there it indicates all the accidents that took place in this area including different time frames when it happened you can see the majority of the accidents are occurring up here on 21st Street has 5 or I should say North Avenue at 21st Street North Avenue has 5 lanes of traffic 85 feet of roadway for individuals to try and cross to use that shortcut to access Calumet Drive the same way if they're using that as a shortcut to get to North 21st Street to continue on to businesses or to a Pigeon River School if you look at the bottom intersection here North 21st Street that includes Main Avenue and Calumet Drive you have different approaches in other words the drivers have to look in different directions not just two directions in order to view the traffic when they're trying to make this crossing during this time what happens if you look on the first page here pardon me I believe it would be the third page Alderman Sushia put down all the different times of the day when these accidents occur the majority of these accidents are all occurring during school hours of these 26 accidents only two of them occurred later than 6.30pm one was at 9.34pm the other one at 12.13am the majority of these accidents are occurring during business hours, during school hours because people are being rushed and they're trying to get across the street of all these lanes of traffic making it very dangerous again closing this off we reduced this down to just one accident in an 8 month period I did look at different ways of trying to approach this project I looked at making this a one-way traffic lane going northbound also looking at making it a one-way going northbound and turning right on the North Avenue only the problem with those was there are still problems with people trying to cross this lane of traffic trying to cross North Avenue as well as the trucks pulling into Muth Avenue or Muth business there by closing this off we felt that this was the safest and easiest way to prevent these accidents from happening I think in the past 8 months we've shown that to be the case by opening this up to one-way traffic trucks would have to come down Calumet Drive and then turn into to get into Muth parking lot there in doing so they're going to create some problems on Calumet Drive slowing traffic up they'll be going both southbound and northbound when they're going southbound excuse me, I need to ask Chief, do you ask these two gentlemen to stop talking? Councils it's in session and we have Alden Cigali I thank you very much for that Mr. Mayor because they've been talking through this whole session okay, Chief thank you pardon my interruption no sir Chief, please continue okay, if we open this up to one-way traffic going northbound we'll create problems with traffic flow on Calumet Drive when trucks are attempting to get into Muth parking lot in addition, when they're leaving Muth parking lot they have to be concerned about vehicles that are approaching northbound and making a right-hand turn on the 21st street the fencing area in there is has that security fencing which makes it difficult for them to see vehicles coming from that direction again, after looking at different ways to approach this problem we found that closing off 21st street at Calumet Drive was the safest thing to do and again, if you look at the number of accidents that occurred at both of these intersections in the time that this has been closed there's only been one accident which occurred at North Avenue and 21st street for vehicles that were both proceeding east and west on North Avenue thank you, please hold on are there any questions for Officer Williams? Alderman Manning thank you were these accidents caused by cars going northbound across North Avenue or southbound turning on the 21st or both? both both, they were caused by both there were also vehicles making turns off of North Avenue there were traffic accidents that were occurring at Calumet and 21st street so there was a majority of them but if you look there's quite a few of them as Alderman Shusa pointed out here quite a few of them are from crossing the roadways attempting to get across there and I don't know if any of you have been up at that intersection when school is being let out or when the businesses are being let out traffic tends to back up people are getting frustrated and that's when the accidents are occurring because they're trying to hurry across that intersection when the highway was designed on Calumet Drive the traffic signals at North and Calumet Drive were designed to handle the amount of traffic that they have there and in order for them to just turn and go to Calumet and North Avenue it might be a slight delay but it is much safer and I think most people find that the delay really isn't there because the traffic's not backed up as much as it was before I think opening this roadway to a northbound traffic is not keeping the safety of the citizens of Sheboygan in mind I think you need to keep this roadway closed and I believe that it could potentially open up a liability for the city if we do not keep this roadway closed okay thank you very much we have Chief would like to address the council if you don't mind thank you Mr. Mayor and County Council I thank you once again this is just a prime example of what I've asked my officers to do to problem-solve that arise in the city Officer William needs to be commended for the effort that he put into this I made that clear at the committee and I thank the committee for bringing it up today I thank you for the work that you put into this but we look at public safety and we do believe that this is the best course is to keep that road closed at this time we also closed off at least to a portion 25th Street at Calumet Drive a number of years ago there were some concerns at that time but I think it worked out beautiful reduced number of accidents and once again I think this is a solution we came up with the committee listened to that solution they may not have agreed with it but at least we discussed it we threw it on their lap to make a decision it's here tonight we come with one last opportunity to sit down and say listen it should be kept closed thank you thank you Mr. Mayor I'm sorry Sergeant Tussinski please forgive me this actually started as a project with Mike Williams and former Sergeant Tarkovsky came to the committee to ask to close this road as a temporary test basis back in May 13th I think it proved the point that we did reduce accidents and this is a great analysis that Alderman Susha put together and she pointed out that some of these accidents were not caused by the cross traffic but all of these accidents were reduced to one at 25th and North by closing the street whether they were related to crossing or not so I think we proved our point when we came back to committee we asked to make the closing permanent because we could only do it on a temporary basis under police powers and our only intent was to make it permanent and to have the committee forward to council to try and make this a permanent closure we did not offer a solution to make it open one way northbound we don't agree with that we don't think it's safe the city engineer didn't think it was safe back in 2000 when the roadway was reconstructed north on Calumet Drive the state suggested and kind of pushed to close that whole block off 21st street when it wasn't done at that time we think we've made our case and we asked the council to permanently close 21st street at Calumet Drive thank you. Alderman Ratke's first thank you your honor I'd like to ask that Mr. Holton address this on his views with this intersection as well okay Mr. Holton is a department head no need to open the floor Mr. Holton please address the council thank you your honor I looked at the information that was supplied and I haven't changed my view I think it should be closed and remain closed we talked about it in 98 during the reconstruction of the intersection and there was opposition at that time to close it and someone wants to try making it one way we can do that but there's probably a cost a couple thousand dollars for signage and for labor to do that but in my experience it's still best because anytime you take a leg out of an intersection reducing conflicts which is going to reduce the accidents okay just hang in there because I think Alderman Sousha a question for whom no I was going to make a statement are we done with Mr. Holton thank you very much okay thank you Mr. Holton okay we're down to the Alderman here Alderman Sousha you're next in the line thank you your honor sorry I will ask him to come back I'm just trying to take the Alderman as they come up Alderman Sousha thank you your honor I did hand out to all the Alderman an analysis of these accidents and what I'd like to do is first apologize to the public for me not taking the time when I was first approached back in May by the police in regards to closing this because I think that an apology is owed because I don't believe it should have been closed in the first place when you look at the 26 accidents you're looking at a combined accident total of two different intersections over a two and a half year period what that comes down to is an average of five accidents per intersection per year roughly now what we keep looking at is they keep comparing it to one accident that happened between May and December in an eight month period of time and that's not a fair comparison to look at a two and a half year segment to eight months and if you look at the third page of the comparison that I gave you at the bottom of the third page the very last item listed there it shows the month of the year that these accidents have occurred you find that 13 half of the accidents of the 26 that they're talking about occurred in the months of January February March and April these four months we have not even studied but yet that is when half of these accidents happened in the two and a half year study period when you look closer at each individual accident you can break them into three categories and on the first page accidents number one through six they reflect the southbound traffic on north 21st street accidents seven through twelve reflect the northbound accidents and the remaining 14 accidents have nothing to do with anybody trying to travel on that section of 21st street what you'll find when you review these reports is that if you have two cars heading east going towards the lake on north avenue and one car swerves into the other car they counted that as an accident and blamed it on north 21st street the two cars are heading east going the same direction nobody was turning and you find also when you go through here there are several of them that cross the yellow line on Calumet Drive one will cross the center line hit oncoming traffic and that has nothing to do with 21st street nobody was trying to turn or anything so when you break it down you'll find that you have six accidents caused from southbound traffic on 21st and six accidents caused by northbound traffic on 21st street by making it a one way we are going to eliminate half the accidents what that breaks it down to then is in the two and a half year analysis you're talking about about one accident per intersection per year and that coincides basically with what he is saying in the time that the road was closed we had one accident this what we're requesting from the council tonight is a six month trial to go one way going north and this suggestion came from the citizens that live in that area the problem that they're having is that there is a backup right now of trucks when they are on north avenue and it might help if you look at the map maybe you can visualize it better we have the intersection at Calumet and north and if you have two trucks that are on north avenue heading east and they want to turn left as if they're going to the Lear Company and they want to turn left by Kentucky Fried Chicken they have to stop there and wait for the oncoming traffic now the people that live over behind Kentucky Fried Chicken over by Lear what's happening is now they're forced to go to the intersection at Calumet north and whichever direction they're coming from oftentimes they are stopped at green lights because they can't get on to north avenue because you have two trucks that are blocking their way whereas if they were able to continue and use the shortcut on north 21st street then they won't be stopped at green lights and I can imagine that would be pretty scary if I had to stop with my children in the car at a green light and go where to get home the direction I needed to go I'd be very concerned about that as well so this has to do with the suggestion of going one way north we're able to cut the accidents in half this is a six month trial we gave them the six month trial to close the road now we're proposing another suggestion here and then we'll bring it back in six months and look at it a couple of other points that I wanted to make I think I touched on the things that he had mentioned again I'll just reiterate what this analysis is doing it looks like there would be only one accident per year if we went down to going north and I would ask that you support this for six months and then at that time if you choose to shut it down that would be your decision thank you thank you your honor the committee has investigated this a lot we've been dealing with this and I've been on both sides leave it open, leave it closed go with the compromise with the one way but recently what changed my mind was talking to people who use that road every day to people who live in that area and they said bottom line is the way it was it was dangerous and now the way it is now it's not and they felt that it wasn't the compromise by making it a one way conversation I had I'm going to vote against this thank you did you need to have Mr. Holton come up Mr. Holton would you please address the council sir thank you your honor I'd like to just reiterate what Alderman Vander really said what it really boils down to is safety as far as the six months trials go it's my understanding that we were going to pay $2400 to make some temporary changes that might work and what I need Mr. Holton if you could just expound on the concerns from those citizens that did come to speak at public protection and safety did not fall on deaf ears there was some alternatives and suggestions that Ryan Stasma gave very simple as tweaking the lights, the timing of the lights during those busy times and if Tom if you could just expound on those alternatives the pattern's been established now but there's some traffic I believe that there's a left turn arrow for south bound Calumet can be added I believe it's probably $500 to add a left turn arrow for designated left turns I think that would probably be the only major issue out there that's efficient Alderman thank you thank you Mr. Holton okay who's blinking next Alderman Manny thank you your comment was going the direction you were going to do about it that was the timing question I just want to see if my perception is accurate if we increase the length of the green light for east-west on north avenue that frees the left turn traffic heading north on 25th is that correct because you don't have the backup from the light I'm not quite following your question you're heading east on north avenue you're heading east on north avenue if you have the intersection at Calumet north green longer for east and west that frees your backup from traffic heading west going back to 25th street that freeing it up eases the left turn there is a left turn arrow though for no I mean left turn at 25th that's part of the problem that's my understanding 21st your green light longer east-west frees up your turns on 21st as well doesn't it and how much has that been extended that green light so far I couldn't tell you that that's a good way to tweak it further the other question I have is probably for one of the officers and that is what is the average number of accidents at a major or comparable intersection for you which officer would you like to answer that whichever knows Tarjan Tysinski depends on the intersection we don't have a program to plug that information I would say an intersection that has a lot of accidents anywhere from 8 up actually 14th and Erie is our majority is by far the worst intersection for accidents then you go up to business excuse me Taylor in Washington will be the next one 8 accidents in the years is a lot and even with all those accidents she points out that weren't related to crossing the 21st in Calumet in the 6 month period that's been closed actually the period that is still closed we've had the one accident and I haven't seen an increase in accidents at Calumet north indirectly it may have affected those other accidents as well thank you thank you all thank you your honor I just want to question I don't know I guess Mr. Holton might know this answer when you say closing the road are you referring to just closing the one side of it right now and it will be open to the moot company or are we talking about closing the road completely I would suggest closing it completely put Gerber and Gutter and Sidewalk through on Calumet Drive and on North Avenue because that was my concern because if the road was not going to be open to the taxpayers then I don't feel that there should be a road there at all then thank you next we have Alderman Sushia second time thank you your honor the last thing I want to see happen is that road closed in this fashion if any individual in the city wants that road closed they can do it above the table and they can ask for it there are three coincidences that make me feel very uncomfortable aside from being misled with the big number of 26 accidents when you break it down you find there are only 12 accidents that are related to this road over a two and a half year time frame the first uncomfortable coincidence was that this road closing was slipped onto my agenda in public protection and safety last May without my permission I was new I didn't know that was unusual now everybody knows they have to go through me if they want something on the agenda back in I believe it was November once again I was quite surprised when I printed my agenda off and saw that the opening or the permanent closure was slipped onto my agenda without my knowledge we held that document because I was not happy that things were being slid onto the agenda without my approval secondly the second coincidence that makes me feel uncomfortable is that this road is adjacent to the mooth building Mr. Mooth made a donation after this road was closed in the amount of $5,000 to buy taser guns I am not comfortable with that strange coincidence is that the planning department has received two inquiries from developers during the last year wanting to know what the master plan is for that intersection now if somebody wants to develop that land they can petition to have that road closed the land gets divided between the two property owners and then if anyone chooses to sell it they can but I do not want to be misled into believing that we are doing this because of 26 accidents we are asking for a six month trial period to make it a one way this is no different than what they were asking to close it for a six month trial period so I would ask that you support the six month trial period there's too many uncomfortable coincidences that I would ever back closing the street unless it's done legitimately thank you Ms. Uscha Chief Hark would you like to make a comment sir first off my secretary takes care of the agenda when my secretary gets information from people who want items placed on the agenda when you took over this this committee you need to make your orders so you know how to proceed second I'm offended I've been offended in the past she has made these allegations about some connection between Mr. Muth my department me or my officers I've had enough I'm tired about it Mayor I've talked to you about it something needs to be done on this last you about this if there's allegations here I would love to have the State Department of Criminal Investigation come into this city to investigate me and my department I've held off on that request but now it's brought up again I'm tired of these allegations if she says that there is something here that I'm doing something unethical illegal and put to bed my reputation is at risk here and you are attacking me and my department my department is based on problem solving and community policing when we see a problem when my officers address that problem they come to this committee to address what they see as one possible resolution whether you buy into that resolution or not that is that I'm not going to make any investigation to look into to make your own decision but do not attack me do not attack my department and if you wish please Mr. Mayor tomorrow we can make a phone call to the State Department of Criminal Investigation to have someone come in here and to look into this matter we will talk about it tomorrow chief next we have Alderman who is the gentleman they put into this and how much work it took them to develop all of this to close this but I guess I'm beyond worried as to what was just done to our chief of police and to our men in blue I'm dumbfounded that something like this could have happened here on the council floor Mr. Mayor I'm concerned about any committee being head of any committee or being on this council floor to accuse any department head you any one of us of taking bribes of a council we wonder why things aren't going right on this council why things aren't going right in the city well it's because people are being accused of things that aren't taking place any one of us of taking bribes or anything else this is wrong this is wrong for this to have taken place tonight I'm sorry I this is just wrong thank you Alderman Sigali I just like to make a comment we do have to bridle our speech carefully choose our words accusations people have been accused on all sides don't forget I was accused and I was investigated we don't need to continue to do that our job is very serious we have a lot of work to do stick with the issues in defense of Alderman Sushia she did say coincidence borderline still a coincidence but I can see where chief Kirk is concerned chief and I have discussed this before on more than one occasion on more than one on more than one individual making a comment if there's any more concern about that I'd ask that we let that issue live for now so that I can meet with chief Kirk in the morning and then we will see if we want to go with that is that okay with everyone Mr. Holton, same issue sir subject yes pardon me okay Mr. Olsen-Meyers question I say run Kerber and Gutter through there we still have to maintain access to both those businesses so if you have a driveway with an approach with a sidewalk going through there would be cost to do that I would guess that you're probably looking at $4000 or $5,000 in time to do that and if that street is vacated half goes to the joining property on the west and half goes to the joining property on the east so everyone's aware of that too thank you and for the value of a vehicle I believe its second time sir thank you we never discussed with the Kerber & Gutter poll protection and safety and i have concerns over that so i guess I would ask if Mr. Holton would, if we would, look at that that would be brought forth in committee i feel it's not a good idea at this time thank you thank you gentlemen all of my B Morgan Thank you, thank you, thank you old man Bird old man graph Thank you for Mr. Holden, please When he's talking about putting curb and gutter in our driveway or cut like that Is that assessed to the property owners, or is that this something that the city? It I guess it could be assessed if the streets vacated first they own the property then we come in and do it It certainly could be assessed at that point. I'd be a yes if it was if the street was vacated first Thank you Mr. Chairman would you like to speak, sir? Yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Mr. City Attorney. Just to comment, I think the issue is the resolution before us. As far as other solutions, I think that should be addressed in committee. I don't think that should be done on the Council floor with kind of a, you know, the back of a napkin sort of approach. And, you know, I think whatever you do, if you're going to do it, it'd be discussed in committee and get some buy-in by the Council on it. Thank you, Attorney McLean. Please stay there. Alderman Ratkin, no? Okay. Alderman Gruff, you're done, sir. Mr. Holton, you're done, sir. Okay. Read the motion, please. Excuse me. The motion is to pass the resolution. And be mindful, 2160 by Alderman Susha, Andrew Wheeling, Meyer and Montemayor authorizing the opening on North 21st Street between Kelley Med Drive and North Avenue to northbound traffic. There's been a motion to pass the resolution. Put the resolution upon this passage. Second. It's been thoroughly discussed. Please call the roll. I'm sorry. Excuse me. Alderman Gruff. Please rise, sir, and speak if I can get to the mic. Thank you, Mayor. A yes vote keeps it open. A no vote shuts her down. A yes vote authorizes the opening of a no vote is to not open. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman. Everybody got that clear? We will call the roll. Sirta. No. Davis. No. Excuse me. Gruff. No. Kittleson. No. Manny. No. Meyer. Yes. Montemayor. Radke. No. Sagali. No. Susha. No. Bowman. No. And Deberg. No. Three ayes, 11 noes. Motion fails. 2161, 2162, lies over. To be referred, 2163 through 2171. Reported committee six, 2172 by law and licensing. Recommending granting a temporary class B license to the Safe Harbor fundraiser. So Alderman Manny, motion to accept and adopt. Thank you. On behalf of the committee, I move that we accept and adopt the recommendation. Second. Motion to second. Under discussion. Alderman Sagali. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. When it was that law and licensing, I voted no on this issue. And I'll be voting again on it also. I have very strong feelings about Safe Harbor and a fundraiser that is going to be done with a wine tasting. I am a strong believer that I always feel that when it comes to domestic violence or domestic abuse, whether it be a man or woman at alcohol is usually, if not the reason for this. Being at one time, 37 years ago, being a victim of it, I understand thoroughly what it goes, what people go through. We never had Safe Harbor years and years ago. You just did what you needed to do. I donate to this organization when I have my grandchildren and things and all that. I just, I feel there's got to be a better way for them to have a fundraiser that does not involve alcohol. So I still would be voting no on this. So I thank you. Thank you, Mr. Gali. Any other? There'll be none. We'll call the roll. Davis? Aye. Graf? Aye. Kittleson? Aye. Manny? Aye. Meyer? Aye. Montemayor? Aye. Radke? Aye. Segali? No. Sousha? Aye. Van Akron? Aye. Fanderwheel? Aye. Bauman? Aye. D-Berg? No. Ann Serta? No. Van Akron, boardwalk, railings and his solution to the problem. Take Alderman Bauman. I thank you, Your Honor. As stated, it was a tie vote and basically no recommendation. I did move that the report of committee be accepted and filed. Second. Motion is second to file. Any discussion? There'll be none. All those in favor state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. 2174 to be referred, reported committee is eight. 2175 by finance recommended executing the amended development agreement for Morningstar condominium project will be referred back to finance. There is an additional stipulation in the contract that needs to be reviewed by finance committee. When they do and have that opportunity to review, they will forward it back to the council. 2176 by special commission on risk management recommending retaining outside council to represent the city in the matter of Luna construction company versus Michael's corporation at all authorizing payment for said services and passing the substitute resolution. Alderman Grop. Thank you, your honor. I would move that the RC be accepted and adopted in the substitute resolution to put upon its passage. Is there a second? There's a second under discussion. They're being on, please call the roll. Graff, Kittleson, Manny, Meijer, Montemayor, Ratke, Segali, Susha, Van Akron, Van Der Wiel, Bauman, Dieberg, Serda, and Davis, 14 ayes. Motion carries. Ordinances introduced 10, 2177 by Alderman Berg, Graff, Serda, Berg, and Van Akron amending the municipal code so as to delete and add various positions from the fire department's table of organization. That is being referred to public protection and safety. Please make notation. 2178 through 2181, lies over. 2182, 2183 to be referred. Matters laid over 11, 2084. R.O. Number 4980506 by the city clerk submitting a communication from Carter Paulus regarding issues with accountability and fiscal responsibility of the Library Board of Trustees. Alderman Graff, motion to accept and file. Thank you, Your Honor. I would move that the R.O. be accepted and placed on file. There's a motion to second. Any discussion? There being none. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. 2085, R.O. Number 499506 by the city clerk submitting a communication from Alderperson Serda regarding the reopening of North 21st Street. Motion to accept and file. Alderman Serda, try this one. I move that the R.O. be accepted and placed on file. Thank you, Your Honor. There's a motion to second. Any discussion? All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. 2048, R.O. Number 23060506 by Alderperson Sousha allowing speakers at the public forum upon request a maximum of one minute extension to allow the speaker to summarize their remaining comments. Alderman Sousha. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion to accept and file. You want to file that? I'm sorry. I wrote the wrong thing down. Put R.O. upon its passage. I'm sorry. I meant to say put R.O. upon its passage. There's a motion to put the resolution upon its passage. Is there a second? There's a second. Under discussion. I think this will help work the process in a fair way. Some people get three minutes. Some people get five. Keep it consistent. Keep it fair. Please call the roll. Kittleson. Aye. Manny. Aye. Meyer. Aye. Montemayor. Aye. Radke. Aye. Sagali. Aye. Sousha. Aye. Vanakren. Aye. Serta. Aye. Davis. No. And Graf. Aye. Thirteen ayes, one no. Motion carries 2049, resolution number 2370506 by all the persons Sousha, calling for an advisory referendum on casino and or riverboat gambling in the city of Sheboygan. All in Sousha. Move that the resolution be put upon its passage. Second. There's a motion and a second to put the resolution upon its passage. Under discussion. There being none, please call the roll. Manny. Aye. Meyer. Aye. Montemayor. Aye. Radke. Aye. Sagali. Aye. Sousha. Aye. Vanakren. Aye. Vanderweel. Aye. Bauman. Aye. Deberg. Aye. Serta. Aye. Davis. Aye. Graf. Aye. And Kittleson. Aye. Fourteen ayes. Motion carries 2050, resolution number 2380506 Would you like to take the next three, Alderman Graf? Yes, please Your Honor. On that matter I would make a motion that resolution number 2050 be put upon its passage and then 2052, which is a resolution to authorize the transfer of appropriations in the 2005 budget that that would also be put upon its passage and 2075, which is a resolution to authorize the transfer of appropriations in the 2006 budget that that resolution would also be put upon its passage. There's a motion. Is there a second? Second. Second. Under discussion. There being none, please call the roll. Meijer. Aye. Montemayor. Aye. Radke. Aye. Sagali. Aye. Sousha. Aye. Vanakren. Aye. Vanderweel. Aye. Bauman. Aye. Deberg. Aye. Serta. Aye. Davis. Motion carries. 2066, general ordinance number 740506 by amendment general ordinance number 5506, adopted December 19th, 2005, so as to correct an error in the legal description for the vacation of the unpaved East West Alley adjacent to the South Line of Lotz 3 and 4, Aden and Samus addition and adjacent to the North Line of Lotz 4, Swiss addition between High Avenue and Swift Avenue. Alderman. Thank you, Ryan. I would move that the general ordinance be put upon its passage. There's a motion to second. Under discussion. There being none, Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Montemayor. Aye. Radke. Aye. Sagali. Aye. Sousha. Aye. Vanakren. Aye. Vanderweel. Aye. Bauman. Aye. Deberg. Aye. Serta. Aye. Davis. Aye. 14 ayes. Motion carries 2067, general ordinance number 750506 by all the persons Berg, Vanakren, Berg, Serta and Graf reestablishing the salary schedule for the certain designated elected officials. Alderman Graf. Thank you, Your Honor. I would move that the general ordinance be put upon its passage. There's a motion to second to put the ordinance upon its passage. Under discussion. Thank you, Your Honor. Discussion. The committee discussed this at length and they took into consideration a lot of DEVA that wasn't provided to them through the HR department. For instance, looking at the clerk in 2005, Sheboygan's clerk made $57,474,000. 50, excuse me, $57,474. The average salary of the 13 clerks in a comparison data set was $65,764 for the same position. If you look at the combined position example, having a clerk, a treasurer clerk, those were not used in our sample. So it was just strictly clerks that were used in the example. There were no data used for 2006 because at the time we requested this information, budgets were still being prepared so no one had any idea what was gonna happen in 2006. Of the 13 clerk positions, 10 were appointed and three were elected. Sheboygan, Appleton, La Crosse, the average of those three salaries, if you wanna take the appointed positions or the elected positions as we have, comes to an average of $63,329. In 2006, the committee unanimously, as a matter of fact, proposed a 3% bump for the city clerk, moving her to $59,198. The 2007 equalizer would be $4,000. The 2007 salary would then be $63,198, which puts this position at a par with all the other elected officials that were making that same amount in 2005. And still $25,66 below what the data set of the 13 clerks that we examined. So with that, we authorized the increase on the attached sheet. Looking at the city attorney, his salary for 2005 was $89,610. The average salary of 15 city attorneys in our data set for 2005 was $93,33, a difference of $3,423. In 2006, the increase that he got was 3% for a total of 92,218. In 2007, for him, we proposed a bump of $2,000, bringing him up to 94,218, which was, if you look at the 15,218, attorneys, their average salary for 2005 was $3,342. So that would bring him very close to that. The 2005 average salary with the life staff of three was $93,653. By population, Eau Claire, Jamesville, or Towson, La Crosse, their average salary is $95,92. So presently our city attorney is paid below what they are. Comparison with the private sector is difficult to find out. However, UW Law School websites notes that the majority of 2003 graduates that are employed in the private sector, which is about 65% of the graduates, report earnings of about $105,000 or more, and the median income of about 50% is reported at about 90,000. With that information that was applied to me by Alderman Eberg, I would support and would ask the council to support the raises that we have outlined in the general ordinance. Thank you, Alderman Graf. Alderman Montemayor. Thank you, Your Honor. And I'm sure Attorney McLean and Madam Clerk Richards deserve this money. However, this is more than the 1.5% increase that we're using for our budget information now, right? It is more than 1.1 1.5% increase. It is, if I may explain, but... Excuse me, Alderman Graf. Thank you, Your Honor. But this was set back in 2002, I believe, when all these rates were set. So that's why the 3% was set at that time. That would, okay, that would bring us up to 2007. But from 2007 to 2008, 2009, 2010, it's still more than 1.5% increase, isn't it? Yes. As much as I would want them to have that money and they certainly deserve it and they certainly earn it. If it's more than 1.5%, I can't support it. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Montemayor. Alderman Meier, your next. Thank you, Your Honor. It's definitely proven that our elected officials are underpaid in this city. And Madam Clerk definitely deserves a raise for all the work that she puts in. But at this point in time, I just don't see where we're gonna get this money. I mean, we're gonna be talking about borrowing money for a police station in 07. Our taxes are going to go up. I just cannot support any increases in pay at this time. And they are well-deserved, they should have it, but we just do not have it in our budget right now. And I cannot support it. Thank you, Alderman Meier, Alderman Ratkin. Thank you, Your Honor. I too, I can't see a raise of that magnitude. A load of positions are very important to the city. Neither one of these two we gotta make the point here are guaranteed this because they have to be reelected before they could get this. And I'm sure they would be. But unfortunately, we just don't have the money at this time. But I just wanna make a point that re-election has to take place before either one of these two get that money. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Ratkin, Alderman Susha. Thank you, Your Honor. I have to agree with everything that's been said. I think that Madam Clerk and our city attorney are doing a wonderful job. And I wanna thank them for everything that they have done. But I look at sometimes the way the city has run to a certain extent similar to a company. And I can't think of one company where the CEO makes less than the people that work for him. And I think that by moving up the Madam Clerk, what we're doing is we're actually gonna have her salary surpass the mayor. And that just doesn't seem quite right with me. I think something that we should consider doing that might be just as valuable to Madam Clerk is making it an appointed position rather than an elected position, being as that sounds like that's what the majority of the cities do. Also, as far as the bumps, a $4,000 bump to bring her up to almost the midpoint of all the clerks that we looked at, there's nobody I know that's two years on the job and automatically goes up to the midpoint of a salary range. So it would take a couple years to work your way to the mid and up to the top point. So I guess what I'd like to do is make a motion to amend this, if I am allowed to amend this type of document. You can make a motion to amend, yes. I'll make a motion to amend it to reflect a 1.5% increase each year, the exact same that we're giving to the unions. There's a motion and a second to amend resolution 2067 to reflect one and a half percent increase. And there's a second under discussion on the amendment. You're being Alderman Graf on the amendment, sir. On the amendment, that's one and a half percent for each of the years 2007, eight, nine, 10. And does that eliminate the bump or does, because you didn't make that as part of your motion, so. Yes, Alderman Sousa. Thank you for correcting me. I would eliminate the bump and pay and just make it a one and a half percent increase for each of the years that are listed on the document. Thank you. I can cover that. I can cover that on the amendment, Alderman Sousa. Thank you, Your Honor. Just for clarification, we keep using this 1.5% and I just need to point out to the public and to the elder person that we are going through arbitration and that reward might not be given and actually it might be exceeded if we actually lose. So, and in that case, does that mean we come back and amend these positions to bump them up to the award that we give the other unions? I don't think we should be setting that behind. Thank you, Alderman Sousa. Alderman Grouse, second time on the amendment. Yes, second that. I can't support the motion. And you know, you look at these raises. This is for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. Now, the 1.5% that we're giving to all other employees is for 2005 and 2006. It has nothing to do with 2007. And at this point in time, we have not looked and determined what we're going to give out as far as increases for 2007. That's why I don't believe we should support this. The committee looked at this and in 2007, eight, nine and 10, we used 2%, which we thought was fair and equitable and was something that probably could be done in 2007. That's kind of what we determined and thought would be something that would be livable with all. And therefore I'd ask the council to not support the amendment and then to in turn support the document. Thank you, Alderman Grouse, Alderman Refty on the amendment, sir. Thank you, Your Honor. I don't support the amendment and the reasoning being, I don't support the first one either, but there's very counsel, not what just a few weeks ago, turned down the raise for themselves starting in 2007 for whoever sits in the seat starting then. We're here for public service. That's what we're here for. That's the name of our jobs here. Each and every one of us sitting here this evening has been elected to do a job for our community. That's what we're here to discuss, not to be giving raises to elected officials. We can't afford it as simple as that and a 1.5% increase or any increase is just too much at this point in time, especially since we've already turned down the raise for ourselves. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Refty, Alderman Manny. Thank you, Your Honor. Simple question, I believe legally we do need to set the schedule for four years at this point. Thank you. Yes, thank you, Alderman Manny. Alderman Mannerwheel, Alderman Manny. Thank you, Your Honor. I just wanted to say that I agree with Alderman Refty that doesn't happen a whole lot and that I believe that it should be set at 0% increase in the next four years, so thank you. Alderman Mannerwheel, thank you for your comments and thank you for that little jost of humor. We needed it. Okay, on the amendment, please call the roll. Let repeat the amendment, please. The amendment is to reflect a 1.5% increase in eliminate any bumps. Thank you, Madam City Clerk. Ratke, Sigali. The amendment is to reflect only a 1.5% increase in eliminate any bumps. Susha. Hi. Van Akron. No. Vanderweel. No. Bauman. Hi. Dieberg. No. Serda. No. Davis. No. Graf. No. Kittleson. No. Manny. Hi. Meyer. No. Montemayor. Aye. Five ayes, nine noes. Amendment fails. Going back to the general ordinance that's been put upon its passage. Anybody need any further clarification? If not, Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Sigali. Excuse me. I'm sorry, this would be to pass the ordinance as written. That's the motion that we're voting on. Alderman Sigali, do you need clarification? Yes, please. We are, there was a motion to put the resolution upon its passage as it is to grant the increases. There was an amendment made. The amendment was defeated. We're back to putting the resolution upon its passage as originally stated. Excuse me, Madam City Clerk. Alderman Susha, do you have a comment? Yes, I'm a little confused. Thank you. Alderman Graf just said that this document reflects a 2% pay increase. And I've just done the math and it reflects a 2.5% pay increase. So I'm wondering if there was an error in drafting this or was it only supposed to be 2%? Because then we should probably address the document. We have, I have to be very firm with this. We were done discussing, discussion was over. We're calling the roll. I thought the issue was to clarify. We need to call the roll. Please call the roll, Madam City Clerk. Sigali. Aye. Susha. No. Van Akron. Aye. Van Derweel. No. Bauman. Dieberg. Aye. Serda. Aye. Davis. Aye. Graf. Aye. Kittleson. Aye. Manny. No. Meyer. No. Montemayor. No. And Ratke. No. Eight to six. Pardon me. Eight eyes, six noes. Eight eyes, six no, motion carries. 2073, General Ordinance number 760506 by Alderperson Susha of Andrew Whealy, Ratke, Meyer and Montemayor relating to the no parking, 27 AM to 4 PM on the north side of Cooper Avenue, west of North 20th Street, Alderperson Susha. Thank you, Your Honor. I move that the ordinance be put upon its passage. There's a motion to second to put General Ordinance upon his passage. Any discussion? Alderman Montemayor. Thank you, Your Honor. There's a few more ordinances that are coming up. In fact, I think there's 10 of them having to do with new signage and new rules about streets and schools. I simply wanted to thank Sergeant Tysinski for all of the work for making this clear and going through this, what it looked like to me, a lot, lots of problems and lots of diagrams and he did it all very well. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman Montemayor. Any further discussion? On General Ordinance number 2073, there'll be a non. Adam City Clerk, please call the roll. Susha. Hi. Van Akron. Hi. Van Derweel. Hi. Bauman. Hi. Dieberg. Serta. Hi. Davis. Hi. Graf. Hi. Kittleson. Hi. Manny. Hi. Meyer. Montemayor. Hi. Ratke. Hi. Segali. Hi. 14 Ayes. Motion carries 2076. General Ordinance number 770506 by Alderperson Susha, Van Derweel, Ratke, Meyer and Montemayor signs along the south side of Washington Avenue, west from the West Curb Line of South 12th Street, Alderman Susha. Thank you. I would like to take the ordinances from 2076 through 2083, and I move that all of these ordinances be placed upon passage. There's a motion to put upon their passage 2076 to 2083 as they deal with the same various issues. And there's a second under discussion. Thank you, Your Honor. What these deal with are the renovations at North and South High School, and we saw some wonderful drawings, and I want to thank Sergeant Tijinski as well for the time and effort put into this, but we need to change some of the parking rules around the high schools, and that's what all of these documents relate to. Thank you, Alderman Susha, for clarifying that. Any other comments? There being none, Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Van Akron. Hi. Van Derweel. Hi. Bauman. Hi. Dieberg. Hi. Serda. Hi. Davis. Hi. Graf. Hi. Kittleson. Hi. Manny. Hi. Meyer. Hi. Montemayor. Hi. Radke. Hi. Sagali. Hi. And Susha. Hi. 14 ayes. Motion carries. Other matters authorized by law, 2184. A communication by Alderman Van Derweel from Joe Ann Wright requests another North Park and her family are struggling to get their cars in and out of the alley as people are ignoring the existing sign. That will be referred to public protection and safety. 2185, an RO by the City Clerk, submitting a communication from Blue Line, Shambuigan, requesting permission to close various streets during the ice bowling event to be held March 17th and 18th. That will be referred to public protection and safety. 2186, an RO by the City Clerk, submitting an older person's Manny statement at the library board meeting on January 31st, 2006 in support of the motion to delete clause 13 from the Employment Contract Amendment with the library director, Sharon Winkel. I'd ask for a motion to accept and file Alderman Manny. Thank you. And I move to accept and file the document. There's a motion to accept and file and second. Any discussion? Alderman Graf. Thank you, Your Honor. Regarding this, I've received a call regarding this particular document. So I sent an email over to Alderman Manning and asked him to make sure that he please submitted it to council so that I could read it because I was unable to attend the library board meeting. And after reviewing this, this, I think allows me to put this matter to rest. And based on what you had said earlier, I think it's time the entire body up here does that and we need to move on. We have more important things to do. And I think if every Alderman takes the opportunity to read this and look at it and then possibly even ask Alderman Manning questions about what did or did not happen, I think they will find that they should be able to put this to rest, too. Thank you, Alderman Graf. Alderman Rechte. Thank you, Your Honor. I wanted to take this time to thank Alderman Manning for his words at that meeting. Last week, they were very reassuring words and very words that really set the tone for everything. And the big message I got out of this is we need to work as a council, as a city, as a community to make sure the institution to meet public library does not get further damage from anything. We need to work with ourselves here and work with the library board to make sure that we continue to move forward, not tear everything down and go backward. And his words there were so reassuring. I came out of there feeling very good about what I heard and I want to thank Alderman Manning for taking the time to address the library board and the people in attendance last week because he really struck a nail that I needed here. And for those that may be interested in the public, this I believe is available on the library's website. Thank you, Alderman Rechte. Alderman Cigali. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I guess we're not answering the proper question. It's not if we are satisfied here. Is the taxpayer satisfied? They're the ones that are asking the question. They're the ones that want to know. They're the ones that want to come to committee of the whole meeting to discuss this issue and express their concerns. When I call for a committee of the whole meeting, Merlemont Mayor said no. I know there's seven of us that have asked for a general meeting. Let the people here, what are we so afraid of not letting them hear about? They have the right to know. That's what their calls are about. They want to ask questions. They have the right to ask questions, Mr. Mayor. We don't have the right not to give them those answers. And that's why I'm still calling for a committee of the whole of our special meeting. I don't think anything can be solved until we let the people here. Thank you. Excuse me, do you want to make a statement? No? Okay, Alderman Montemayor is within her right. The committee of the whole is not the proper forum to discuss this. If it's a special meeting, it would be more appropriate. I feel, as Alderman Graff does, as Alderman Mani and a lot of people in this community that this thing needs to be put away, we need to move forward. But I found out today that some Alderman at call pursuant to autohupla from a radio station. And again, I caution you, don't start running city business from a radio station. We run business out of this council chamber. Right now, I have Alderman D. Berg, Dan Berg wanting a special meeting. I'm not sure if it's a special committee of the whole or what it is. To clear questions on the library board, Alderman Sigali on the library board, Alderman Serda on the contractual agreement, Alderman Ben Akron on the special meeting of the committee of the whole. No issue discussed, just requested a meeting of the committee of the whole. Alderman Stefan solely on the contract issue of the library, Alderman Vanderweel on the library board, Alderman Baumann on the library board. That's seven Alderman that are asking in writing that they want a special meeting call. I'm not sure which one, but we can call it. Chief, would you ask these two gentlemen to, they're out of order? They keep, they get 10. I believe 10 need to request a special meeting. I am convinced and I will not, I will not start running city business out of a radio station, an entertainment show. Those that choose to, feel free to do so. I run council business out of this chambers. There's seven right now. Who else would like a special meeting with those seven? There's none. There's a motion to accept on file, 2186. All in graph. Thank you. Just to make one more comment. You know, we did have some committee of the whole meetings where people came and asked specific questions. What could be done in this issue if the citizen wanted to, is they can submit written questions to directly to you or directly to any of the alderman that they want, and they will get those answered. I would expect them to get those answered. That is an excellent suggestion, and I would address the public in this matter that if anyone has any questions regarding the library issue, specific questions that they please submit it to the office of the mayor. They want to be addressed to a specific alderman. Please do so. Again, if anybody wants to blame anything, blame me. I will take blame. I will bear their weight on my shoulders. It's time to move on. Alderman Serra. Thank you, Your Honor. Just for clarification, I can only speak for myself directly. I'm taking exception to your statements concerning the HUPLA concerning WHBL. I have received calls from individuals via my phone concerning their issues, and that's why I had called for a special meeting. If you would like, I don't know how they arrived at their decision to call me, whether it was WHBL or another media source, I can give you their number, but I don't take their concerns lightly. That's why I'm bringing it up. I'm not getting into the HUPLA everything. I'm just taking their concerns seriously. Thank you, Alderman Serra. Your exception is noted, and please forgive me if I made it a negative tone. It's an emotional issue for a lot of people. I would like for us to address the issues in this council chamber. We do it appropriately. I don't believe we need to pursue this anymore. If 10 Alderman feel that we need to, please let me know, otherwise we're going to move on. And again, I will take the grunt for that, and that's just the way it's going to be. Alderman Susha, you're next. Thank you, Your Honor. I believe at this point in time, there's really not much that the council could do. We are waiting on a decision, or not a decision, an opinion from the League of Municipalities. Now, if by chance that opinion from the League of Municipalities were to come in and say that this is illegal, then I think at that point in time, we need to take a closer look at the contract and decide where we're going to go from that point. I know that on our desk there was something from the Department of Public Instruction today, but I also noticed that it's signed by an individual that's a director and not an attorney. So this is not a legal opinion in any way. It's just stating, quoting a couple of state statutes. But at this point in time, I think that as far as the contract goes, there's really not much we can do. There's a separate issue in regards to some of the library board members. We have some issues currently sitting in the finance committee. We also have certain issues sitting in the committee of the whole. And at the appropriate time, I think those individual issues will be addressed. Thank you. And with respect to the possible illegality of a contract that the library board issued, if there would be the case, again, please understand that as a jurisdiction of the library board, they will have to deal with that. And I'm certain that Attorney McLean will be there to assist. Alderman Ratke. Thank you, Your Honor. I received only one phone call in this whole issue and I had talked to the lady, explained the whole situation. You said it earlier. There's only three ways we can touch the library board. First, we can cut them back at budget time to whatever level of maintenance we have to maintain. Secondly, if you make an appointment we don't like, we can say no. Thirdly, if we have cause, we can pull the library board at this time, we don't. But the point I'm trying to make is the common council, the committee of the whole, we've got no jurisdiction over there. That's the library board. But the library board is, and maybe Attorney McLean could address this, subject to the same open meetings law that this common council subject to, their agendas are published and the same protocol applies to, the library board applies to this council. The public is welcome to go to those meetings. If the public has an issue, I believe they have a public forum in their board meetings where people can come in and address whatever. If they need to ask questions, the library board members are public servants such as us. Call the library board members and ask them why. I mean, the issue is there, it's not here. Our powers are very limited. And again, like I said a little bit earlier, it's just time to put this thing to sleep. Thank you, Omer, Ratke, Omer and Segali. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I guess I take exception along with Alderman Serda. We had, people had no other place to turn. As older people, when we talked to our own Alderman Montemire, when she was saying no to this, we had no other options. We had, we were trying to help the people, they were coming at us. They wanted something done. So do not blame WHBL or anybody else for what has taken place. They were the citizens outlet. That was the station or the people that were willing to listen to them because it didn't seem like anybody else was. So this is just something that has all catapult into something like this. And we as older people, I guess in some ways, ought to be ashamed of ourselves because they're at, the citizens are asking for help and we can't give it to them. And that's really sad that we're not able to do that. Thank you. Thank you. Once again, the citizens are entitled to all the information that they ask for. If there is no committee meeting call or no special meeting of the council call, they're not left out in the dark. They can still call the mayor's office. They can call the president of the council. They will have access to anything that they need. They can go to the library board meetings. That's where it starts. They can ask questions there. They have their public forums. They will not be denied information. I guarantee you that I have an open door policy and I literally mean an open door policy. I see people every day on lots of issues. I welcome the people who have issues with the library to come see me and get answers. And that is a problem a lot of times that when people don't have the right information, some people make stuff up. And I'd ask that anybody that doesn't have the correct information to please come to the mayor's office or call the president of the council, Alderman Graf, and we will provide that information, but no one in any form or manner is denying anyone of any information or the right to know. Alderman Monk and Mayola. Thank you, Your Honor. I received a few phone calls and by and large, they were very calm and we talked and they understood after I talked with them for a while, there were only two that screamed and hung up on me. But most of them, we talked for quite a while and I think everything was settled. So there again, the citizens called me and we chatted and we got the information straight. Thank you. Thank you, Alderman. Okay, motion to accept and file 2186, Alderman Manny's statement to the library board. All those in favor, state aye. Any opposed? Motion carries. Other matters? Attorney McLean. Thank you, Your Honor. 2187 is a communication from Alderman Serda regarding her concerns on how the city handles legal matters with specific reference to the recent meetings between the mayor and library director Sharon Winkle regarding amendments to her contract and that certain individuals outside the designated governing body were allowed to participate in this discussion and provide assistance. That's for a motion to file. Alderman Grough. Second. Under discussion, Alderman Serda. Thank you, Your Mayor. I understand why you made a motion to file, but just for future references, what this really addresses is all department heads, not just yourself in the future. And if it would lie over on the agenda, maybe we can give a quick synopsis because people keep bringing up the issue that Marilyn Donahue has been able to attend various meetings. And it's not just with you, I guess other departments as well. And that way, if we could just address it that way, I can give an answer to this. Thank you, Alderman Serda. And all I would ask is this is an issue, really, that concerns with how I manage the daily operations. And again, you're quite welcome to come to my office and talk about this. And I guarantee you'll have your answers. All those in favor, state aye. Aye. Can you oppose? No. Anybody, there's an ice hole. Do you want a roll call? I don't hear anything. Yes. Please, Madam City Clerk. Okay, and I vote would be to file. Van Akron. No. Van Derweel. Aye. Bauman. Aye. Dieberg. No. Serda. No. Davis. Aye. Graf. Aye. Kittleson. Aye. Manny. Aye. Meyer. Aye. Montemayor. Aye. Radke. Aye. Sadali. No. Susha. Aye. 2188 is communication received by the mayor from Roop Gill, co-owner of Jake Slicker Beer Wine Store protesting the special assessment for by two minutes resurfacing on Union Avenue. And we'll go to finance. 2187 is a report of officer by the City Clerk submitting applications for private well permits. That lies over. 2190 is a communication from John Winter having concerns about issues such as the proposed opening of North 21st Street. The issues regarding overtime that accumulates from the police department and the possibility of contracting with special operations detective agency. That goes to public protection and safety. 2191 is an RO submitting communication from Jane Jaworski for alleged damages to her basement when the sewer back up due to men working outside. And that will go to risk management. 2192 is a resolution authorizing the appropriate city officials to execute the 2006 JAG program award memorandum of understanding between the city of Sheboygan and county of Sheboygan. That lies over. 2193 is a communication received by the city attorney from the League of Wisconsin Municipalities requesting that the council consider sponsoring the league's 2006 municipal attorneys institute to be held at the Blue Harbor Resort and Conference Center June 14th through 16th, 2006. And we'll go to finance. 2194 is a resolution amending the composition of the building use committee. That lies over. Motion to adjourn is our second. All those in favor state aye. Any opposed? We stand adjourned. The breastfeeding mom who got the boot from Victoria's secret minutes away. But first, did you happen to see that photo of Brittany Spears taking her baby son's life in her hands? Here's Brittany driving serenely along Pacific Coast Highway. The scenic but heavily traveled and dangerous main drag grew Malibu. That's her bodyguard sitting alongside her. On her lap is Sean for 16 week old. Neither mother nor child is wearing a seat belt. And the child is obviously not in a car seat, which California law requires for every kid under six years of age or under 60 pounds. The shots remind me that just because someone is famous doesn't necessarily make them smart parents. Remember Michael Jackson, whose infamous baby dangling led some to demand he lose custody of his children or Australian crock hunter Steve Irwin bringing his month old baby to breakfast in the crock pit. Now without sounding over preachy, celebs parents have to remember that their kids are not flops. And now for a look at the rest of the world at large. Laurie Dews here, hi. Hi, Geraldo. A red flag warning in Southern California as that wildfire in Cleveland National Forest continues to burn. At least 3,500 acres have gone up in smoke and thousands of homes are being threatened. About 900 firefighters are on the scene trying to contain the raging flames. Authorities in Alabama are investigating four more Baptist churches that caught fire overnight. So far, nine churches have burned in just four days. The latest fires are especially obscene. On the day, civil rights widow Coretta Scott King is laid to rest. A convenient store clerk in Kansas had a would be Robert yelling four after the clerk went at him with a golf club. The quick thinking clerk jumped over the counter chasing the guy out the door. His buddies are calling him Tiger Woods. Al Green singing his 1972 hit, Let's Stay Together, bringing the commander in chief to his feet Monday night. President Bush got his groove on following a dinner at the White House honoring the dance theater of Harlem. And this is no circus act like many Americans, elephants at the Oregon Zoo are also battling the bulge. So they're getting a vigorous daily workout from zookeepers that would put Richard Simmons in sweat. Now to those clearly in the shape of their lives, actresses Scarlett Johansson and Kira Knightley have posed nude for the cover of Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood issue, which is to be released Wednesday. Fashion superstar Tom Ford appeared alongside the women after wedding crash star Rachel McAdams backed out. And a programming note now. Last week we told you about a lawsuit filed against Bishop Earl Paul, an Atlanta area minister who's being sued by a former parishioner for allegedly coercing her into a 14 year sexual relationship. After my story, we reported that despite being ravaged by cancer, the Bishop was well enough to preach on the Sunday prior. We've been told that information was incorrect. Bishop Paul was not in church that Sunday and has not been since November 6th of last year. Now to a major controversy at Laundry Giant Victoria Secret, it's all over. You won't believe this, a woman's breast. Let's face it, America is obsessed with breasts. Women pay thousands to enhance them. Men pay thousands to ogle them. We even have a chain of restaurants named in their honor. But despite our obsession, if a woman exposes a breast in public, it's considered offensive. Just ask Janet Jackson, whose Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction triggered a national nervous breakdown. Even more upsetting to some, the sight of a woman breastfeeding. I don't have a problem with breastfeeding at all. I just feel like you should be covered up. Most mothers I know cover up. The issue of breastfeeding in public took center stage last year at a Victoria's Secret store of all places. The company that has made billions celebrating the female form showed one mom the door when she asked to breastfeed her baby in a fitting room. South Carolina mom, Lori Ruger, was shopping at a mall in Mount Pleasant with her infant daughter when the baby began to cry. Lori Ruger went into a Victoria's Secret and asked if she could use their dressing room in an effort to have a private place to nurse her hungry child. And they suggested she'd be more comfortable in the public restroom. She basically was embarrassed and didn't quite understand why she saw it as extremely unfair for such a simple, basic act of nurturing your child. Lynn Cook of the South Carolina Breastfeeding Committee and other Lactavists were so enraged by the incident they staged a nurse in outside the store. Victoria's Secret's parent company, Limited Brands, responded with the following statement. We have long had a policy of allowing women to nurse their children in our stores. Although the summer 2005 incident was a misunderstanding, we are pleased that it has resulted in public discussion of this very important matter. I'm sure they understand now. I mean, they've gotten a lot of attention from this issue and I think they realized the mistake that they made. South Carolina State Representative Chip Limehouse is introducing a bill that would ensure nursing moms the right to breastfeed in any public or private location, including a department store. 38 states already have similar legislation. We have just give women support so they feel comfortable to do what is obviously the best for their child. I mean, it is especially ironic that it is Victoria's Secret. But the law in South Carolina has to be changed, doesn't it? Well, they're certainly fighting for that as we reported in the piece. There may be some tough time getting it passed because one of the members of the House Judiciary Committee there says he supports the concept of women being able to breastfeed anywhere, but not necessarily the mandate on businesses. Thanks, Laura. Thank you. Joining us now, Melissa Vance. Melissa is the attorney for La Leche League International, the worldwide breastfeeding organization. Hi, Melissa. Hi. What's your comment? What's your reaction to the alleged advice the sales clerk gave the woman in question here, Lori. Next time you wanna go shopping, get a babysitter. Well, it's offensive. It's not always a possibility to get a babysitter, particularly small infants, nurse quite frequently, and to get away for more than an hour can be difficult. Do you see the irony of Victoria's Secrets, the company that made billions on breasts taking this position? Absolutely. But that's unfortunately the issue with public breastfeeding is so many people see the breast purely as a sexual object and forget what the breast really is for, which is to nourish children. Right, if you get the plumbing and nutritional aspects. Melissa, thank you very much. Thank you. Stand by, everybody, back in the flash. Heraldo at Large is brought to you in part by... Here's what's coming up next time. Heraldo at Large, Aruba, a crack in the Holloway case.