CONSENT CALENDAR

APPROVAL OF COUNCIL JOURNALS

February 19, 2008 Regular Meeting

March 5, 2008 Regular Meeting

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CLASS F-1 – MARCH 29, 2008  

St. Francis Xavier Band, 81 North Carpenter Street (02914)

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CLASS F-1 – APRIL 5, 2008       

St. Francis Xavier, Casa Dos Acores, 81 North Carpenter Street (02914)

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Silva, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to remove the minutes of the March 5, 2008 meeting and defer to the next meeting.

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Silva, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted approve the Consent Calendar as amended.

Councilman Cusack asks that there be a change in the order of business, to allow the public to comment on Mr. Cusack’s nomination for School Committee.    

On motion of Councilman Cusack, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to change the order of business.

PUBLIC HEARINGS

Councilman Cusack – Request for Public Comment regarding School Committee Appointment.

APPOINTMENTS

WARD ONE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER (by Councilman Cusack)

Anthony A. Carcieri   42 Bridgham Farm Road (02916)

Councilman Cusack speaks on behalf of his nominee, Anthony A. Carcieri, and gives a summary of Mr. Carcieri’s resume.  Following Mr. Cusack’s comments, Mayor Ramos asks if the Council has any questions for Mr. Carcieri.

Mr. Carcieri is sworn in by the City Solicitor. 

Councilman DiTraglia asks Mr. Carcieri what he will do eliminate the School Department deficit.  Mr. Carcieri responds by saying that the problem has been around for a long time and one person cannot turn it around; that his goal would be to work with other members of the committee to achieve the needs and wants of the parents and children. 

Members of the public wishing to speak on the appointment are sworn in by the City Solicitor.

Tracy McCaughey, 114 Bay View Avenue, states she was at the last meeting when the Assistant Mayor spoke about the public being involved.  She says that this is a City Council appointment until the next election. She also states that she met with Mr. Carcieri and he understands that we can’t spend more than we earn.  She urges the Council to vote in favor of his nomination.   

Mayor Ramos asks Mrs. McCaughey how many other candidates she spoke with, and she replies there were none.  Mayor Ramos states he has a problem with that and he’s not ready to vote with just one candidate.

Cathy Grilo, 158 Hamilton Street, states that she was at the meeting and believes Mr. Carcieri is the best candidate.  She says she agrees with the Mayor and wants the same opportunity to ask the same questions for any other candidate that she asked of Mr. Carcieri.    

Councilman Cusack asks Ms. Grilo if she had an opportunity to meet with Mr. DeCastro, and Ms. Grilo replies that she did not.

Councilman Cusack asks the Mayor how many people were nominated by the Ward 2 Councilman and Mayor Ramos states that he, along with School Committee Chairperson Morris and Councilman Silva, interviewed about 5 or 6 people.  Councilman Cusack then asks the Mayor how many people were nominated.  Councilman Silva responds that the five candidates were numbered 1-5 and the first was the one nominated.

Melissa Andrade, 89 Interlocken Road, states that this has been a great learning experience for the public as well as the Council.  She says she thinks time is of the essence and Mr. Cusack has done what was asked of him.  She says everyone wants the School Committee to be full and Mr. Carcieri is qualified.  She says she would be really embarrassed by the City Council if they did not nominate the appointment tonight.

Tim Norton, 180 Bourne Avenue, states that he had a couple of conversations with Mr. Cusack, but never advocated or expressed a direct interest in the School Committee.  Mr. Norton says that Mr. Cusack was kind and professional and took a lot of time to speak to him and answered his every question.  He says he was impressed by Mr. Cusack, and having one choice is no choice at all.  He says nobody from Ward 1 stepped forward.

Kathleen Blackmar 127 Palmer Avenue is sworn in by the City Solicitor.

Ms. Blackmar states that she was here two weeks ago when the Mayor was absent.  She says that there is no bylaw stating there has to be a committee.  She also states that at that meeting, Mr. Silva said he was not prepared to ask questions and wanted to defer, but tonight he had the opportunity to ask his questions, but did not.  She says that she is embarrassed that this gentleman has shown up for two meetings and will be further embarrassed if his is not sworn in tonight. 

Councilman Silva states that this is a very important decision to make tonight and says he is not going to waste his vote on just one candidate.  He says that Mr. McNamara’s name was put up there, and asks if he has been interviewed. 

Councilman Cusack states that he received a phone call from Mr. McNamara last Thursday, which was the deadline for the names to be on the docket.  He says he spoke with Mr. McNamara for about thirty minutes, talking about his professional experience, and other qualifications.  Mr. Cusack says he told Mr. McNamara that he already had a nominee and did not intend to add another one. 

Councilman Silva asks if there is no set rule does it have to be the Ward 1 person to put a nomination up, and the Mayor replies “yes”, because when it happened in Ward 2, the Mayor requested that Councilman Silva make the recommendation based on his committee.  Mayor Ramos states that the Charter states that it is up to the Council, but says he doesn’t think it would be fair if we gave one Councilman the opportunity and not the other.  .

In response to a question from Councilwoman Perry, Councilman Silva says there were six people on his committee; Councilman Silva, the Mayor, the School Committee Chair, a person from Ward 2, a Union Representative and the Democratic Vice Chairman.  When Councilwoman Perry asks if they were all members of the Democratic Committee, Councilman Silva replies that he’s not sure.  Councilwoman Perry states that she is sure they were and that this whole issue is about politics.  She mentions several duplicate letters she received in the mail, urging the Council not to vote for Mr. Carcieri, and says she believes it is from the Democratic Party.  She says that this is supposed to be a nonpartisan School Committee and a nonpartisan City Council.  She asks the Council to make the appointment tonight, saying that the School Committee needs a full board, and asks the City Council to take responsibility for what they were elected to do. 

Councilman DiTraglia states that people should have a voice and we need more than one candidate for this position.  He says two people approached him and thinks Mr. Cusack should interview them.  The people should have a voice to say what they feel and we need more than just one candidate for this position.  Two people approached me and I thought Mr. Cusack should interview them.  He says he is not here to embarrass Mr. Carcieri, but feels the public should be involved.   

Mayor Ramos states he wants to be fair and thinks this should be deferred.  He says he doesn’t know Mr. Carcieri and wants to feel comfortable when he votes.  He says that when he votes, he is not voting for individuals but for the whole community.  He asks that it be deferred and that a special meeting be held in a week, saying that if a vote is taken tonight, the candidate will be out and he doesn’t want to do that

Councilman Cusack asks the City Solicitor if the appointment is denied tonight, can the nomination be brought forward again by Councilman Cusack.  Mr. Conley responds by saying Mr. Cusack can put the name forth again.   He goes on to say that if Mr. Carcieri’s nomination is defeated, there simply would have a vacancy.  

Councilman Cusack asks the Mayor what procedure should occur over the next week before the special meeting, and Mayor Ramos states that he thinks there should be more than one candidate and he is not going to take just one.  Councilman Cusack then asks if he has to interview in the presence of any individual people, and Mayor Ramos suggests that he put a committee together.    

Councilman Cusack states that he has no intention of appointing a special interest committee, and asks if there are certain people who come forward and he still prefers Mr. Carcieri, will that be satisfactory to the Mayor, or will there be a competing nomination because of pressure.  Mayor Ramos replies that a counter nomination will not be made by him.

Councilman Cusack asks for a vote for Mr. Carcieri’s nomination.  Councilman Silva asks that Councilman Cusack come back with a list of names if Mr. Carcieri’s nomination is defeated.  Councilman Cusack replies that he will not. 

Motion is made by Councilman Cusack, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, to appoint Anthony Carcieri to the School Committee.  A roll call vote is taken on the motion:

The motion is defeated on a 3-2 vote.

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman DiTraglia, and on a roll call vote, it is unanimously voted to have a special meeting on March 25, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. 

The Council recesses.

The Council resumes, with all Council members present.

ASSISTANT HARBORMASTER (by Councilman DiTraglia)

Andrew M. Handfield, 56 Ferris Ave, Rumford (02916)  (term expires 12/1/08)

On motion of Councilman DiTraglia, seconded by Councilman Silva and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to defer.

ASSISTANT HARBORMASTER (by Councilman DiTraglia)

Luis M. Azevedo, 6 Dearborn Dr, Riverside (02915)  (term expires 12/1/08)

On motion of Councilman DiTraglia, seconded by Councilman Silva and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to defer.

NARRAGANSETT BAY COMMISSION (by Mayor Ramos)

Richard M. Brown (for a term ending 4/1/11)

On motion of Councilman Silva, seconded by Councilwoman Perry and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.

LICENSING COMMISSIONERS RESUME SITTING AS CITY COUNCIL

PUBLIC HEARINGS

ORDINANCES – FINAL PASSAGE   (Given First Passage March 5, 2008 Advertised – Prov. Journal –March 7, 2008.)

NEW BUSINESS

CITY MANAGER’S REPORT

Purchase three (3)  RAD-57 SPCO Meters

Mr. Brown states this request comes from the Fire Chief, who wants to purchase three meters that measure Carbon Monoxide.  The $10,000 cost will come from the rescue fund, which requires Council approval. 

On motion of Councilwoman Perry, seconded by Councilman Silva and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to approve.

Deficit Spending

Mr. Brown thanks Councilman Cusack for pointing out a word that was left out of his report on the second page.  He says the line should read basically that our employees should not have the sole responsibility for balancing the deficit situation and the text reads they should the word not was omitted.

Mr. Brown reports on some solutions that he and the School Superintendent have come up with to address the 3.4 million dollar School Department deficit.  He says that there are basically three major cost drivers on the school side; the cost of personnel and salaries (which they are in the process of renegotiating some of those contracts), the cost of health insurance (which seems to be coming it at about $1.8 million dollars above what was originally anticipated in the budget), and special education costs (which are mandated at the Federal level and passed down through the State level, and some of these may exceed the Federal government).  He says that there is no short term fix to recover from a $3.4million dollar deficit and balance the budget by the end of the fiscal year. 

The next area was to look at a number of ways to manage it and to reduce the level of spending .  Mr. Brown says that both he and the Superintendent have implemented austerity programs within both organizations to pare back unnecessary spending .  He says that it does not do any good when trying to educate kids that things such as supplies, books and other items are taken away.  The Governor’s midyear budget is going to result in a loss of revenue in excess of $537,000.  Mr. Brown says he has modified hiring freezes and is examining every position within our organization before it is filled and the City delays filling positions wherever possible, while we look for alternative means of delivering service.  He also has asked his Department Heads to cut back on the level of spending by 10%, although some departments, due to the size, simply can’t comply with that.  A 10% reduction would put them out of business completely, and other departments have been a little more creative.  He says that based upon the feedback he’s received from the operating departments, he believes that the City can certainly deal with the adjustment should it the revenue cut be made.  He says that it is with a great deal of pride that his department heads are creative enough to do it, but there is also a great deal of reluctance that the process is made easy for the folks who want to cut revenue to local government. 

Mr. Brown says he believes the answer to managing a deficit, keeping the fiscal year in balance, and meeting the obligations to the employees, the school children, and the citizens, is to employ a device known as a deficit reduction bond.  He says the City would borrow $3.4 million dollars, or an amount that is believed to be equal to the amount of the deficit.  The bond would be paid back over a three to five year period, with savings clearly identified at the time the bond is issued.  The bond will be used to do two things; one, to pay back the deficit; and to provide a more realistic level of local support to the school system so that we’re not having this deficit discussion year after year. 

The recommendations are:

• The sale of school properties Grove Avenue and Platt Waters, which will generate about 2.9 million dollars. 
• The City and the School Committee committing to reducing the health care cost by becoming part of one of the two Blue Cross health care collaborators.   Some of it is made up from the retirement of school personnel and the differential between bringing people in who are at the lower end of the pay scale.  Some results from the decreasing of the staff in the schools because of a decline in enrollment.  As the contracts come up for renewal, negotiating health premium sharing that is more in line with what is happening throughout the State. 
• Altering schedules of Fire Fighters as well as some alterative staffing of Police and some other operations. 
• Consolidation of services that can be managed by one function.

Mr. Brown says he would like to schedule a work session with the school committee and one of the topics for discussion would be a presentation of the Roger Williams report by the authors of that report.  He asks that the Council allow him to take the memorandum that he provided the Council with and submit it to the Auditor General, to begin the process of negotiating with him the manner in which we solve this deficit.  He says that in order to issue deficit reduction bonds, no only is the approval of the governing body needed, but the Auditor General’s approval is needed also, and he would like to begin the process. 

Councilwoman Perry makes the motion, seconded by Councilman DiTraglia, to allow the City Manager to submit the memorandum to the Auditor General.

Councilman Silva asks that if by going forward with this vote does it mean that all cuts proposed by Mr. Brown are guaranteed.  Mr. Brown replies that it does not, but since we are not the only community in the state in this position, and the method of funding a deficit is not one that Auditor General likes, he would rather be the first than the last.

A roll call vote is taken on the motion which is unanimously approved.

Mayor Ramos thanks Mr. Brown, Dr. Forbes, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Capron.

REPORTS OF OTHER CITY OFFICIALS

CLAIMS COMMITTEE (by William J. Conley, Jr. – City Solicitor)

On motion of Councilman Silva, seconded by Councilwoman Perry, and on a roll-call vote, it is unanimously voted to accept as presented.

COMMUNICATIONS

Charles Mello, Jr., 596 Willett Avenue (02915) requesting to address the Council regarding what are the Goals of this Council.

Mr. Mello was not present.

Mayor Ramos adjourns the meeting at 10:15 P.M. on a motion of Councilman Silva, seconded by Councilwoman Perry.

Attest:

_________________________________

Virginia B. Nunes

City Clerk

Approved:    April 15, 2008