 We'll call the first regular meeting of the Common Council to order. Pat, would you call the roll please? Bowman. Here. Berg. Here. Doyle. Here. Graf. Here. Manny. Here. Montemayor. Here. Moody. Here. Perez. Here. Ruinfleisch. Here. Schultz. Schultz. Who did I miss? Here. It's good, right? Yeah. Bonet. Here. Stefan. I almost wore Akron Schultz on my shirt now. Are you a veteran? Van Akron. Here. Vanderweel. Here. Longerman. Here. Werner. Here. Wenninger. Here. 16 present. Quarms present. Here. And moving on. Who's leading us in a pledge this evening? I don't know. All of us, Stefan. This evening, Pastor Richard C. Manny from First Presbyterian Church will do our invocation. Pastor Manny, please. And the mayor asked me to share a few comments that would be appropriate for the evening before I voice the prayer. So, because I have a little political theory background in my undergraduate years, long time ago. I'll share a few comments along the lines of our political democracy. This last week, we have gleaned pictures from the news media of looters in Baghdad. And as we see those pictures, we are reminded of the importance of order. And also of the importance of our public political and social lives. I would suggest that the basis of a civil society rests on the appropriate establishment of authority and the careful use of power. I suggest also that modern political theory reflects the attempt to keep those two things in balance. When authority and power are in balance, individual rights and liberties are valued and transitions of those in leadership are peaceful, as is evidenced this evening. I don't think anyone killed to take a seat here tonight. Although it may, the seat may destroy your family life. In my mind, in our democratic society, we take a lot for granted. We assume that individual rights will be honored and we assume that transitions will be peaceful. But I think if we take the historical perspective, we realize that democracy is not a fail-safe form of government. But in contrast, democracies only flourish when we win them again and again by pursuing the principles by which we are founded and on which we live. Alexis de Tocqueville in the 18th century in observing the American democratic experiment said, the strength of democracy in my mind lives and is based upon the involvement of people in their local political processes and in the values that participation in church life fosters. There is a danger in interest groups in democracies when people lose the good of the whole in pursuit of their own narrow group's interest. We see that in our society by the pile of legislation that blocks our court systems. And in any society of a democratic basis, when that kind of self-interest predominates, movements towards Balkanization occur and democracies end up very different than they were to begin with. For us in local government, there is promise and possibility in living out the democratic experiment. Because we come to involve many in our work, we come with diverse talents offered. We ask many different questions that come from different perspectives. And because of that, the whole is better than the sum of its parts. So I believe there is pleasure and satisfaction here for us in the work of this next year in open and honest pursuit of the common good and with the work done in civility based upon some sense of our common humility, i.e., we don't have all the answers. But together in pursuit of the common good, listening and verbalizing and seeking the best between us, we will do well and in many cases we have done well. So tonight, let's celebrate the rule of law and the democratic process and commit to be together civil and humble and directed towards the common good, because in that we will have pleasure and we will be productive in our work together. Let us pray. Dear God, as the whole universe is upheld by the word of your power and by the impulse of your will, so too we are kept in the blessings of freedom and democracy as we recognize and honor your image in which we have been made. In this year of work ahead, may we who labor for the good of our city share the pleasure of mutual respect, honor the citizens whom we represent and be diligent in our tasks, alive to the satisfaction of servanthood lived and to the joys of life shared. Thank you, Pastor. Okay, now we will have the swearing-in of the city attorney. Hi, Pat Lose. Hi, Steve McClain. I swear that I support the Constitution of the United States. I swear that I will support the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. And will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of city clerk to the best of my ability. So help me God. Okay, now the aldermen. Pat, you want to use the microphone, please? Okay, I'll try. All I have to tell you is a bit what we get. It's going to sound jumble when you all say your own names, but just say your own names. Do I say Pat Lose? Yeah, basically. Oh, oh, oh, oh. Is this how the year is going to go? No. Well, just keep this. No, keep coming home a little bit. Thank you. And I've never done this before. I have Lose. I swear that I support the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. I swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. I swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States. And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. And the Constitution of the State of Wisconsin. And will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of the office of Alderperson to the best of my ability. So help me God. Congratulations. Do I do the other stuff first? Yeah. All right. Okay, adopting the rules of the Common Council, Alderman Perez. Thank you, Your Honor. I would move that we adopt the rules of the Common Council for the year 2003-2004. Moved in second that we adopt the previous rules of the Common Council for 2003-2004. Under discussion. Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Election of President and Vice President of the Common Council. Alderman Perez. Thank you, Your Honor. I would move that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by closed ballot. And if more than two candidates are nominated, the candidate with the lowest number of votes be dropped from the list and ballot in to continue until one candidate receives a majority. Thank you. To be moved in second that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by closed ballot and if one or more candidates are nominated, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be dropped from the list. Okay. Nominations? Alderman Warner. Well, thank you, Your Honor. We're taking President first and then we'll go Vice President. Thank you, Your Honor. It is my pleasure to nominate for President of the Common Council of the City of Sheboygan, someone that truly will meet the challenge of the year ahead. This person knows the Council inside out. This person understands the issues and is a leader with more experience than most of us, if not all of us here tonight. We'll face many difficulties and challenges this coming year and we will need a cool hand at the helm. An experienced servant of the people, I nominate Alderman James Graf for President of the Common Council. Okay. We'll have a nomination Alderman Graf for President, Alderman Vanderwele, anyone else? Vanderwele. I'd like to nominate, thank you, Your Honor. I'd like to nominate Juan Perez for President because he's an obvious leader of the Council and Vice President of Last Year's Council and he's the best person for this role. Thank you. Thank you. Are there any other nominations? Second. Oh, I need a second. Second. Okay. It's moved. It's been moved and seconded. Are there any other nominations from the floor? Are there any other nominations from the floor? Alderman Perez. Thank you, Your Honor. Moving nomination seats. It's moved and seconded. Nominations be closed. Okay, we vote a... What you'll do, you have a ballot, say signature, my vote is four. You must sign your name to it and then write down underneath that who you're voting for. Okay, the results are Graf 9, Perez 7. Congratulations, Alderman Graf. Now we'll have the elections for Vice President. Nominate for Vice President. We don't have a Vice President? Alderman Graf. Thank you, Your Honor. I had the wrong note here. I thought I was supposed to nominate him for Committee of the Whole, but for Vice President of the Council, I would like to place in nomination the name of Mike Warner. He has been a true leader on this Council, starting out on six years ago, four years ago. Four years ago, seems like forever. And I know he will do a good job. He has headed the Public Protection and Safety Committee, as well as the license and the same portion of it, and has done an extremely good job. He's worked with many department heads, and I'm sure he will do a good job as Vice President of the Council. And one of the things that I look forward to in my last tenure on this Council was have Mike follow me as President, and this could be the result of that reality coming through. Okay, I have one nominee and a second. Are there any other nominees for Vice President? Any other nominees for Vice President? Alderman Graf. I would move the nominations because I'm a unanimous ballot be cast for Alderman Mike Warner. Moved in second at nominations be closed in a unanimous ballot be cast for Alderman Warner under discussion. Are you not all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Congratulations, Alderman Warner. Election of Representative City Plan Commission, Alderman Wongaman. Actually, it's... Wait a minute, wait a minute. We have to have a motion. This is for Plan Commission. Plan Commission, yes. I have contractors, examiners, and two representatives on the Capital Improvements Commission. We have the same rules. We have to adopt some rules first. Alderman Perez, you have the rules. Thank you, Your Honor. I would move that nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by open ballot and if more than two candidates are nominated, the candidate with the lowest number of votes be dropped from the list. And ballot is to continue until one candidate receives a majority. Moved in second at nominations be received from the floor voting to be done by open ballot and if more than two candidates are nominated, the candidate with the lowest number of votes be dropped from the list. Okay, nominations. Alderman Warner. No. I'd like to place into nomination for the City Plan Commission, Alderman Warner. Alderman Groff has said all the good things I was going to say about, Mike, but he's been here for four years and he's done an admirable job with the Public Safety and Protection. I think he would be a good candidate for this job. It's been moved in seconded for Alderman Warner. Are there any other nominations out there? Any other nominations? Make a motion. We cast unanimous ballot for office, for, I was going to say, officer if you can tell, right? Alderman Warner. Second. It's moved in seconded and unanimous ballot be cast for Alderman Warner. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Congratulations, Alderman Warner again. Representative Board of Contractors and Examiners and two representatives. Oh, you want to do the examiner first? Okay. We'll do the examiner first. Alderman Warner. I thank you, Your Honor. I would like to nominate Alderman Dennis Ballman to the Board of Electrical Examiners. Alderman Ballman has past experience. Oh, contractors, examiners. Excuse me. You got it right. We'll be looking after the electrical part of that also. But Alderman Ballman has past experience and a good understanding of the Board's function and its responsibilities. And I know Alderman Ballman will serve the council as well as our representative on the Board of Contractors and Examiners. Thank you. Second. It's moved in seconded for Alderman Ballman for contractors, examiners. Is there any other nominations? Are there any other nominations? If not, I would entertain a motion for be closed. Thank you, Your Honor. Move the nominations to be closed and a unanimous ballot be cast for Alderman Ballman. All in favor of the motion? Aye. Opposed? Congratulations, Alderman Ballman. Again. Okay, now we have two representatives of the Capital Improvements Commission. Alderman Moody. Thank you, Your Honor. I would like to nominate my colleague Bill Longerman. Bill has been on the council for four years, but I think he's probably been around the city hall a lot longer than any of us. He served as 28 years as a police officer, and he's been the city historian since 1986. So I think he's very, very knowledgeable about the city of Sheboygan. He'd be a top-daunch candidate for Capital Improvements. It's moved in seconded Alderman Longerman. Do we have any other nominees? Any other nomination? We need one more for Capital Improvements. Alderman Warner. Thank you, Your Honor. I would nominate Alderman Anthony Benay. I think Anthony will make a valuable addition to this year's commission. Anthony has proven ability and common sense needed to serve on the Capital Improvements Commission. Having worked with Anthony on public protection and safety as well as building use and salary agreements, I can assure you he's well qualified and will serve the council well as a commissioner. Okay, we have a second for Alderman Bonet. Is there any? Alderman Longerman? No. Yes, no. Okay. I would entertain a motion to close the nominations. Can a unanimous ballot be cast? For the two. Correct. Okay. All in favor? Congratulations, gentlemen. Okay, now we recess to elect Chairman of Committee of the Whole. So, Pat and I, we have to... If you need to go... I don't know how you're going to do it. I'll do it open-closed. I will call the meeting of the Committee of the Whole to order, and our business is to elect the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole. I will call roll first. Berg? Yes. Bonet? Yes. Doyle? Manny? Yes. Montemire? Yes. Moody? Yes. Perez? Yes. Rindflish? Yes. Stefan? Yes. Van Akron? Yes. Van Der Wheelie? Yes. Longerman? Yes. Warner? Yes. A quorum is present. I will now entertain motions to elect Committee of the Whole Chairman. Oh, we have to do that, too. Just a minute. First of all, we have to adopt the rules. Alderman Perez. Second. Is there a second? Second. It's been moved and seconded as Alderman Perez read. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor of adopting the rules say aye. Aye. Chair votes aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Second. Is there any other nominations for Committee of the Whole Chair? Alderman Byrd. I nominate Michael Warner for Chairman of the Committee of the Whole. It's been moved and seconded to nominate Michael Warner. Are there any other nominations? Alderman Rindflish. I nominate Alderman Juan Perez. Is there a second? It's been moved and seconded to nominate Alderman Perez. Are there any other nominations? Are there any other nominations? Are there any other nominations? Then a motion to close the nominations. It's been moved and seconded that nominations be closed. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Chair votes aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Is there any other nominations? Root don't. Is there a tie? It's kind of confusing. People draw a state vote. I'm sorry. It's a tie? It's a tool. It's a tie. I'm sorry. I can't find one. I can't find two because it's a different number. Let's see what happens. It's pretty easy when you sign it, though, it's going to get the funnier one. I'm recall. Alderman Warner has nine votes. Alderman Perez has seven. Alderman Warner is your new chairman. Can I get a speech? Is that next week that he gets a speech? I don't know. Can I or not? I got one here for me. All right. Oh, we're just agreeing. Probably not. Okay. We'll call the meeting to order again. Alderman Groff. Thank you, Your Honor. I wish to report that after two votes and a recount, Alderman Warner is the chairman of Committee of the Whole. Congratulations again, Alderman Warner. Alderman Groff, do you have my agenda? Take it with you. Maybe. It says mayor. That would be it. Did you want to keep it for a while yet? Oh, man. Okay. When you get up here, you can get up in a world tunnel. You can stand on a step with me. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Good evening. Can I put that up here? Uh-huh. When you get up here, you can get up in a world tunnel. You can stand on a step with me. Good evening, council members, Pat, Steve, and guests. I am both proud and honored to stand before you this evening as mayor of a city which continues to receive national recognition. Listen for a moment what others are saying about Sheboygan. Number one hometown, USA. Money magazines stop US location for retirement living. Readers digest. Number one place in the nation to raise a family. One of our fourth nation's safest cities. And the third destination for Gulf in the United States. All these accolades point to a community which tirelessly seeks to enhance its reputation as a city which combines quality of life, affordability, and economic expansion. But with all these successes comes challenges. And it is those challenges which I would like to begin my talk this evening. The greatest challenge we face is that of change. Change creates uncertainty and this uncertainty promotes fear. Fear however will not defeat us. Opportunity will not consume us and challenges before us will be overcome. Opportunity overcomes uncertainty and hope always defeats fear and holds the promise of a better tomorrow. Guided by sound principles our leadership actions take on a sense of urgency and bring fulfillment to our purpose. Our challenges will begin in the upcoming council year with the anticipated $840,000 reduction in state shared revenue. This figure represents the best case scenario of how much a boy can will be asked to contribute towards the state fiscal crisis. There are legislators in Madison who would like to make deeper cuts in shared revenues which would increase the amount of our shared sacrifice. I encourage all of you as leaders of our community to fight these attempts. In the proposed reduction in shared revenue is combined with continuing double digit increases in employee health care, anticipated wage demands and necessary capital expenditures. This equates to a multi-million dollar challenge for this body. Our challenges is not only to look for immediate solutions but also lay the framework for long term solutions that will solidify our financial future. To accomplish this each of you, all city departments, all city employees and all our residents must become part of the solution. Several weeks ago I outlined my proposal for successfully meeting these challenges and I encouraged the entire leadership team of our community to implement these or like-minded proposals in order to assist the state with its fiscal crisis and to maintain our community's own fiscal integrity. I have asked each city department head to determine the impact of a 7% across the board reduction in their budget. Many department heads have indicated they can only accomplish this through a decrease in personnel. Clearly this signals the distinct possibility of layoffs and decreases in city services. To minimize this impact, it is imperative that the city hiring freeze continue. I propose that all currently unfilled positions remain vacant, that the seller and grievance committee work with our finance and human resource department to promote retirement of long-term employees in that positions in which employees' retirement this year be thoroughly reviewed for the possibility of consolidation with existing positions. Through negotiations I am asking all city employees to increase their current contributions to our health care costs. All city employee groups have already agreed to do so and I urge the remaining union leadership to step forward and follow suit. I applaud the management and staff of Meet Public Library for considering a reduced work week to help meet the financial challenges which the city faces. A reduced work week not only decreases payroll, it also minimizes the need for employee layoffs. I continue to ask all our city employees to offer suggestions to their department heads on ways to reduce costs, identify recurring problems, improve quality and generate additional revenue within their departments. Those employees who feel uncomfortable going to their immediate supervisors may submit their recommendations directly to me. I will personally work with the department head in reviewing each suggestion. This process worked well in the Sheboygan area school system and I remain hopeful that the city employees will be equally as helpful as employees of the school system in identifying cost savings opportunities. Part of our long-term financial plan should include the application of user fees to pay for city services and functions. I do believe, however, strict scrutiny of such fees must be put into place so the money collected is being applied to the services described and that financial accountability to our residents can be maintained. In order to continue meeting our commitment to maintaining our streets, I asked the finance committee to freeze the wheel tax at its current rate of $6 per vehicle per year to apply these revenues, which I estimate at $200,000 to our general fund. There are other initiatives which I ask you as a council to begin exploring immediately. Consolidation with county in services which all county residents use must be implemented. The three areas where I feel consolidation is most equitable and beneficial are a countywide library system, countywide recycling and countywide refuge disposal. I challenge our finance and public works committees to immediately address these topics and begin working with our county supervisors in reducing the cost of both city and county government. The process for consolidation must begin now since agreements we reach today will serve as long-term solutions to reducing the cost of government. There is one key point to our budgetary efforts that I must make. We must be cautious not to overreact and make cuts that are unwise. We must be cautious not to overside or unnecessary. When Governor Doyle released his budget proposal and it became apparent we would receive less in shared revenue, he indicated this is a short-term solution to this budget period's crisis. If we all accept some level of sacrifice, the next budget process will be filled with less difficulty, pain, and uncertainty. Luckily we face questions as to how we can propose new development while facing budgetary shortfalls. It is important to note that many of the dollars used for development cannot be used to provide services. Likewise, many dollars earmarked for services would be unwise to be allocated towards development. Thus, regardless of any development projects that do or do not occur, the reduction in shared revenue will require many of the choices to be made. I have just outlined this evening. While I have addressed our budgetary challenges, I must also address two major projects facing our community. Construction of a new police facility and the Great Lakes Development. We are currently working with the county officials to purchase county-owned property for the construction of our police facility. The latest proposal is one I support, since it will not only save taxpayers dollars, but also allow for future consolidation of law enforcement services. We have developed a financing plan which is realistic, responsible, and a small price to pay for the safety of our community. I urge our Public Protection of Safety Committee to be a major player in this project in negotiations with the county. I also would like to briefly address the Blue Harbor Resort project. Without question, this project is the single most important opportunity in Cheboygan's history. It removes a vacant and blighted area and creates a world-class tourism anchor for substantial future business development in the area. There are risks, but we have included substantial safeguards. Clearly, the benefits far away those risks. Last evening, the previous council displayed the courage and wisdom to seize the opportunity put before them and gave their endorsement to this project which will shape Cheboygan's future for years to come. Some individuals continue to question the timeliness of this project given our upcoming budgetary crisis. In reality, is it at the times of our greatest budgetary challenges that a community must step forward to seek development which can generate additional revenues. It is during the times of our greatest challenges and difficult decisions that leaders must emerge, leaders who are not afraid to take a risk, to accept responsibility and to create a future full of hope. I wholeheartedly endorse this project and anxiously await its completion. In keeping with past traditions now, I would like to call upon our new Common Council President Alderman Graf and Committee of the Whole Chairman Alderman Warner to share with us their views for our upcoming council here. Alderman Graf. I will move them so you don't take them. I don't want to stand in there just in front. Mayor Schramm, City Clerk Pat, City Attorney Steve, members of the Common Council, guests in the audience and our television audience as well as all the electors in the City of Sheboygan who will more than likely be reading this or some of these excerpts in the paper tomorrow. I want to start off by saying thank you. First of all, thank you to the voters of the Fourth District in the City of Sheboygan who re-elected me to the Common Council. I'm really thankful for that. And then secondly, thanks to the members of this Common Council who elected me to lead them during the 2003-2004 Council year as President. And then I just want to say I appreciate the support and faith that all of you have shown me to help and the help that I know you are going to give me to lead this Council and the City of Sheboygan forward. Looking ahead at next Monday's agenda I can see Pat Losi clearly did it again. She hit the nail on the head and she's given us words by which I hope every alderman will live by during the next next year. The words that are on this agenda are begin today to listen to yourself until everything you hear works for the positive. That's one of the big things we need to do in 2003 and 2004. Be positive. As the Mayor stated, a consolidation of services the building of the Blue Harbor Resort working for a new police station and several other major projects that he mentioned. We have to keep our thinking positive. There are several things that I know are laying out there waiting to be done. I know the storm water management program which is something that I hope was done several years ago. I'm hoping that that will be looked at again as something that we may need to do in order to decrease some of the costs that we're looking at right now. My fellow alderman, I'm asking you that and requesting that you be as positive in order to make the best decisions for the City of Sheboygan. We also need to keep our constituents positive by keeping them informed and we need to keep our employees here in the City positive by showing that we appreciate them in anything we can do. When we keep everybody positive, we will be productive in all that we do and we will keep Sheboygan moving forward which is what I'm planning on doing in 2003 and 2004 and I hope you all join with me. Thank you. Thank you Alderman Warner please. Citizens of the City of Sheboygan, Mayor Shram, my fellow council members, the excellent staff and employees of the City of Sheboygan, it truly is an honor to stand before you today. Never in my wildest dreams have I envisioned myself in such a position of honor and I thank you for that. The coming year will have many challenges. We will confront them all, we will tackle our budgetary concerns, the growth of our city and plan for the future of the greatest city there is, Sheboygan. The South Pier District will come alive signaling a new era in Sheboygan's history and future. We will address the flooding concerns that remain from the aftermath of the flood of 1998 and after decades of debate and inaction. We will take a giant leap forward in the construction of a much needed long overdue new home for the Sheboygan Police Department. Mayor Shram, I personally thank you for your leadership, your understanding and vision to move the new police facility forward. It would not be possible without your support. We have heard a lot lately about the need to communicate and the need to get information into the hands of members of this common council. Much of the responsibility to be informed falls on each of us individually. We must attend meetings and communicate with the staff to keep abreast of what is happening in our city and we must seek answers to our questions on a regular basis. I'm a firm believer that an informed council is an effective council and will take the necessary steps to see that we are informed. We are informed on the issues and informed on the inner workings of the city department by department. We will have regular meetings of the committee of the whole. I know more meetings, no one likes that, but we're going to try to make it a little easier. Some will be for educational informational purposes and others will be for debate and discussion. We will schedule these meetings monthly prior to at least one of the monthly common council meetings and when we have a major issue we will schedule a separate meeting to deal with it. The meetings will be televised via Shiborgans TV 8 so our citizens can learn and understand with us not as an afterthought. The content of the monthly meetings has not been set but will include issues such as the drug problem in our city as well as police, fire and public works issues and information. I will ask each department to prepare and provide information and interesting presentations after which time will be allowed for questions and answers. How many of you know what the COPS team is all about? How many really understand the concept of community policing? How many of us know what modern fire safety is all about? What do we know about the benefits and service provided by our first responders? What does it really take to plow our streets salt our roads and remove our garbage? What does it take to prepare, clean and maintain our beautiful parks? Those are the types of things we're going to be looking at amongst others. In addition the city clerk's office, building inspection, planning and development, transit, the water department and others will be given the opportunity to address this council as well. All of these are important parts of the quality of life and future of our city. With all that is before us in the coming year we fear the future. We will not and cannot fear the future. To do so would be a disservice to our city. Instead we will reach out to tomorrow and use the past as it was intended. As a lesson in history, not a wall to stop our progress. Again Mayor Sram, I thank you for your leadership and vision for the future of our great city, Shiboygan. To my common council colleagues, I thank you for your confidence and desire to move Shiboygan forward. We will do so together. To the city's staff, department heads and employees thank you for your expert advice and the dedicated service to your city. And to the citizens of the city of Shiboygan, I thank you and God bless Shiboygan. He didn't shake the speech, he took the microphone along. Now I would like to congratulate our older persons. Older person Manny, congratulations. Is there anyone here you would like to introduce with you this evening? Would you stand please? Thank you. Alderman Van Akron, anyone here you'd like to? Stay standing guys, stay standing until we get through this. Alderman Bauman, anyone here? Alderman Warner and Alderman Wongerman. Very good. Thank you gentlemen. Congratulations on your re-election. And I would also like to welcome Alderman Bonet. Alderman Bonet, please stand and someone is Jill with you this evening? Alderman Graf. Who somehow managed to have a thorn or a thistle put in my infrelts. Alderman Rineflesh and Alderman Montabeer. And my daughter and aunt Amy, you couldn't choose a better one over Cadillac with the tribe. And my good friends is having it. Thank you. Before I end my remarks tonight I would like to extend a sincere debt of gratitude and admiration to the men and women of our armed forces. For the past four weeks they have sacrificed greatly in order to protect our nation, to defend our freedom and to affirm the values we as a country, state, and city uphold. May we remember them this evening, remember their families, and may they return home safely. Now as elected officials of our community the challenges we face in the upcoming year may well be some of the greatest faced in our community's history. These challenges are brought about by real issues. Issues often lead to immediate control. It would be understandable to look to others for answers, to wait, to be tentative, and to look to the future with uncertainty. Our future however is what we choose to make it. We will not sit idly by. We will not wait for others to tell what Sheboygan's future will be. Past leaders of our community had the courage to take risks. Risks that have resulted in our riverfront boardwalk, our marina, our rejuvenated A Street, and our first class library. Last evening many of you took hold of the opportunity to lead. Accepted the risks and had the vision to see a better future for our community. I encourage all of you in the upcoming year to bring forth ideas, propose solutions, challenge each other, and be a force for positive change in our community. Leadership is the action necessary to create a community full of opportunity, possibility, and dreams. Courage, wisdom, and hope are the tools leaders need to put into action. Take action. Dream big. Take hold of your opportunity, our opportunity, Sheboygan's opportunity. Ladies and gentlemen, our time is now. Thank you and God bless you. Okay, Amir's appointments. Steve? Go ahead. Today's date to the honorable members of the Common Council. I hereby submit the following appointments for your consideration. Finance Committee, Alderman James Graf Chairman, Alderman Weninger Vice Chairman, Alderman Steffen, Doyle, and Bonet. Public Protection and Safety Committee, Alderman Michael Warner Chairman, Alderman Doyle Vice Chairman, Alderman Moody, Wangerman, and Vanda Whealy. Public Works Committee, Alderman Dennis Baumann Chairman, Alderman Berg Vice Chairman, Alderman Moody, Montemire, and Rin Flesch. Sowering Grievances Committee, Alderman Don Van Akron Chairman, Alderman Wangerman Vice Chairman, Alderman Weninger, Manny, and Perez, signed by the mayor. Okay, these will lie over. All the Alderman have on your desks. The appointments by the mayor to the various boards, committees, commissions based on past precedent. I won't read them all unless, okay. Those will lie over until next week. Okay, with that public forum panel. Okay, to the agenda, 1-1 through 1-2 will lie over 1-3 lies over until 5-19 1-4 through 1-14 to be referred. 1-15 by Alderman Perez requesting the mayor to reactivate various special committees for the 2003-2004 council year. Alderman Perez. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion that the resolution be put upon his passage. Move to the second resolution be put upon his passage. Under discussion. Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. 1-16 by Alderman Warner establishing the referral of the state budget impact to the strategic fiscal planning committee. Alderman Warner. Thank you, Your Honor. I make a motion that the resolution be put upon his passage. Moved to the second resolution be put upon his passage. Under discussion. Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. 1-17 through 1-19 to be referred. 1-20 will go to special committee of risk management. 1-21 will go to special committee on risk management. Steve. I've got one that's not numbered. It's an RO but 1-22 is an RO by the city clerk submitting a communication from Sharp-Pakniak Executive Director of the Literacy Council requesting the city's permission to have a donation of access to the internet installed at 926 Broughton Drive. Public works. 1-23 is an RO by the city clerk submitting a claim from Sharp Creations to recover personal property taxes paid in error for property located in the town of Sheboygan. We'll go to finance. 1-24 is an RO by the city clerk submitting a notice of circumstances of claim and claim in the matter of the English manor bed and breakfast Susan Humley and Lakeview manor bed and breakfast Renee Sushia relative to the use of city room taxes. That will go to special committee on risk management. Move to secondary adjourn. All in favor? Aye. Opposed?