08-25-2009 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPECIAL WORK SESSION August 25, 2009 APPROVED Dawn Bugge, Community Development Assistant, remarked that she believes this situation speaks to the point that you don't know what you've got until it's gone. She asked that the council be mindful of that as decisions are made and services are lost. Georgia Woltjer, Building Secretary, stated that she has worked in customer service for her entire career and she believes that it would be devastating to the city's service level to only have one window open to the public. If there is a storm similar to last year, there is no way she can issue 8,000 permits and answer the phones for the entire building. Carol Danielson, Administrative Assistant, remarked that during her three and a half years with the city, she has been proud to be an employee representing the city and feels that staff provides a high quality of service. The city would lose a very high caliber of employee. Tanya Mozingo, Recreation Supervisor, asked the council to consider all level of city services that are at risk. Services don't start and end with the taxpayers. The employees work hard, enjoy their work and provide a high level of service to all residents, preschoolers on up. Jackie Bowdich, Police Department, acknowledged the difficulty of the situation. Services as well as people are an important consideration. The loss of a job can be devastating and result in harsh consequences such as the inability to pay for homes, cars, schooling, etc. She hopes the council will consider that employees are real people. She believes that the employees are willing to stand together and make concessions to help the city get through the budget crisis. Paul Bengtson, Associate Planner, asked the council to consider that a reduction in an area such ■` as planning could result in the need to pay for more outside consulting services. He encourages a closer look at cutting back on that type of fees so the city can maintain its current employees who can provide superior services based on their knowledge and experience within the city. Lester Rydeen, City Mechanic, noted that he came to the city from the private sector where he had heard plenty of jokes about government workers. Coming to work here, however, he found real employees doing real work providing real services. The numbers the council is looking at are tough but he hopes they will remember the benefit and need for continuity. The practical knowledge and experience these employees have built up and will pass on are important elements to the present and the future functioning of the city. Connie Sutherland, resident of Lino Lakes, commented that it is striking that the budget recommendations seem unequal—there are no proposals for reductions at the director or non- union levels. She thinks broad spectrum reductions, rather than just hitting the front line workers,would cause less service impact. She encourages the council to be more creative,to hear that employees are willing to work with the city on ways to hold onto experienced workers and to look at reductions in a broader sense as the private sector is currently doing. The work session was briefly recessed at 7:30 p.m. reconvened at 7:45 p.m. Finance Rolek recalled that the council will be asked to consider the levy limit at the council meeting on September 14, 2009. A council member suggested that the enormity of the budget