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Item No: 07C <br />Meeting Date: September 23, 2013 <br />Type of Business: Business <br />City of Mounds View Staff Report <br />To: Honorable Mayor and City Council <br />From: James Ericson, City Administrator <br />Item Title/Subject: Resolution 8151 Supporting a Shift of Federal Funding to <br />Meeting the Essential Needs of Local Communities (MN <br />ASAP Resolution) <br />BACKGROUND <br />On October 22, 2012, the City Council reviewed a resolution in support of the Minnesota <br />Arms Spending Alternatives Project. At that time, the Council decided to take no action on <br />the resolution. The issue has been championed by resident Bill Urbanski and others who <br />are renewing their efforts for the City Council to act on the resolution. <br />DISCUSSION <br />Mounds View resident Bill Urbanski approached the City Council and requested that it <br />consider adopting a resolution to urge our Minnesota congressional delegation and the <br />President to "shift federal funding priorities from war and the interests of the few, to <br />meeting the essential needs of us all." The organization Mr. Urbanski supports, Minnesota <br />Arms Spending Alternatives Project (MN ASAP), would like local groups, organizations, <br />agencies, cities, etc., to adopt a resolution highlighting the costs of war and how much MN <br />taxpayers have spent funding the war efforts so that wasteful Pentagon spending can be <br />reallocated to meet the essential needs of our local communities. In his letter to the City <br />Council dated September 4, 2013, Mr. Urbanski explains that MN ASAP is a non-partisan <br />citizen -based initiative seeking to promote conversation about and build support for <br />reductions in waste and to draw attention to fraud and abuse that exists in Pentagon <br />spending. Mr. Urbanski provided the Council with many reports and articles that highlight <br />what MN ASAP's is about and what it's hoping to accomplish. Mr. Urbanski has provided a <br />letter and resolution for the Council's consideration. Also attached is a letter from resident <br />Tom Kosel also in support of the resolution. <br />RECCOMENDATION: <br />Staff recommends the City Council review the information provided by Mr. Urbanski and <br />consider the attached Resolution 8151, a resolution supporting the shifting of Federal <br />funding priorities from wasteful Pentagon spending to meeting the essential needs of our <br />local communities. <br />Respectfully submitted, <br />6,mu <br />James Ericson <br />City Administrator <br />