# Council Work Session - June 22, 2010 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · June 22, 2010 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/1429 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/1429?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2010-06-22 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: June 18, 2026 - **Length**: 11,112 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Speaker labels and verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Urban County Council convened on June 22, 2010, with Mayor Newberry presiding. The meeting covered 9 agenda items spanning a range of legislative and administrative business, including requested rezonings, budget amendments, new business, and both a Council Report and Mayor's Report. Over the course of the meeting, 16 motions and votes were taken, and 2 public comment periods were held — one for issues on the agenda and one for issues not on the agenda. The majority of action items, including the rezoning docket, budget amendments, new business, and the Mayor's Report, were approved, while several items were informational in nature, including continuing business and presentations. ## Attendance All members were present at the June 22, 2010 Council meeting. The following individuals were in attendance: - **Mayor Newberry** - **CM Myers** - **CM James** - **CM Ellinger** - **CM Beard** - **CM Lane** - **CM Gorton** - **CM Stinnett** - **CM Crosbie** - **CM McChord** - **CM Blues** - **CM Crosby** - **CM Lawless** - **CM Martin** - **CM Bush** - **CM Henson** No Council members were recorded as absent or late. ## Votes and Decisions The following motions were considered at the June 22, 2010 Council meeting. No transcript timestamps are available for any of the votes below. - **Place revised resolution amending Council Rules on Thursday's docket** — Moved by CM Myers, seconded by CM James. Passed unanimously. - **Approve the docket as amended** — Moved by CM Ellinger, seconded by CM Myers. Passed unanimously. - **Approve the summary from June 15, 2010** — Moved by CM Beard, seconded by CM James. Passed unanimously. - **Approve budget amendments** — Moved by CM Ellinger, seconded by CM Lane. Passed unanimously. - **Remove last line of the memo in item K** — Moved by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Henson. Passed unanimously. - **Table item C** — Moved by CM James, seconded by CM Gorton. Passed on a roll call vote of 13 ayes to 2 nays. - **Approve New Business items** — Moved by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Stinnett. Passed unanimously. - **Schedule a public hearing on the tax bill issue for 8/31/10** — Moved by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Crosbie. Passed unanimously. - **Amend the NDF for Casa by decreasing it $200** — Moved by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Crosbie. Passed unanimously. - **Keep the golf issue (enterprise fund) in the Services Committee for the August meeting** — Moved by CM McChord, seconded by CM Beard. Passed unanimously. - **Approve the NDF list** — Moved by CM Beard, seconded by CM Blues. Passed unanimously. - **Amend the amounts of the NDF to DLC for various projects** — Moved by CM Crosbie, seconded by CM Lane. Passed unanimously. - **Remove Dewitt Hisle as chairman of the Internal Audit Board** — Moved by CM Myers, seconded by CM Crosby. **Failed** on a roll call vote of 6 ayes to 7 nays. - **Approve having a confirmation hearing on 6/24/10 for nominees for the Planning Commission** — Moved by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Martin. Passed unanimously. - **Approve the Mayor's Report, without the Planning Commission** — Moved by CM Lane, seconded by CM Martin. Passed unanimously. - **Adjourn the meeting** — Moved by CM Gorton, seconded by CM Myers. Passed unanimously. ## Budget and Financial Actions The Council addressed one financial item during the June 22, 2010 meeting involving a capital appropriation for park improvements. - **Schedule No. 151** authorized an appropriation of **$5,830** drawn from Neighborhood Development Funds and directed to the Division of Parks and Recreation for the **replacement of playground equipment at Veterans Park**. This appropriation represents a targeted investment in recreational infrastructure, funding the removal and replacement of existing playground equipment at Veterans Park through the designated Neighborhood Development Funds channel. The Division of Parks and Recreation was identified as the recipient responsible for carrying out the work under this schedule. ## Public Comment Two speakers addressed the Council during the public comment portion of the June 22, 2010 meeting. - **Don Blevins, Jr.**, Fayette County Clerk, presented to the Council on the tax bill preparation process. His remarks covered relevant deadlines associated with tax bill preparation as well as the need for a public hearing related to that process. - **Becky Locknane**, President of the Realtor Community Housing Foundation, addressed the Council to thank them for their partnership and funding support for housing repair projects. Her remarks acknowledged the Council's role in supporting the Foundation's work in the community. No transcript timestamps are available for either speaker's remarks. ## Appointments The Council took action on two appointments to the Planning Commission during the meeting. - **Ms. Beatty** was appointed to the Planning Commission. - **Mr. Cravens** was reappointed to the Planning Commission. ## Contested Items **Removal of Dewitt Hisle as Chairman of the Internal Audit Board** The Council considered a motion to remove Dewitt Hisle from his position as chairman of the Internal Audit Board. The item generated significant division among Council members, with discussions centering on potential conflicts of interest related to Hisle's role. The motion ultimately failed by a narrow vote of 6–7, meaning Hisle retained his chairmanship. The close vote reflects the degree of disagreement among Council members over whether the conflict of interest concerns raised were sufficient grounds for removal. ## Public Comment — Issues on Agenda No members of the public offered comments on issues on the agenda during this portion of the June 22, 2010 Council meeting. ## Requested Rezonings / Docket Approval The Council took up the matter of a revised resolution amending Council Rules, with discussion led by CM Myers and CM James. The item centered on whether to place the revised resolution on Thursday's docket for further consideration. Following the discussion, the Council approved moving the revised resolution amending Council Rules to Thursday's docket. ## Approval of Summary The Council took up the approval of the summary from the previous meeting held on June 15, 2010. CM Beard and CM James were the key speakers on this item. The summary was approved by the Council without noted objection. ## Budget Amendments The Council took up a resolution on budget amendments during the meeting. CM Ellinger and CM Lane were the key speakers on this item. Following discussion, the Council approved the budget amendments. *Note: No additional details regarding the specific contents of the amendments, the amounts involved, concerns raised, or the nature of the debate are available in the meeting record for this item.* ## New Business During the New Business portion of the June 22, 2010 Council meeting, the Council took up several items involving authorizations for agreements and amendments. Key speakers on these matters included CM Gorton and CM Stinnett. The Council considered and acted upon multiple resolutions covering various authorizations. While the specific details of each individual agreement or amendment are not enumerated in the available record, the items presented fell within the category of formal authorizations requiring Council approval. All New Business items were approved by the Council. ## Continuing Business / Presentations During this portion of the meeting, two presentations were delivered to the Council covering tax bills and housing-related community initiatives. **Don Blevins, Jr.** delivered a presentation on tax bills, providing the Council with information on this topic. **Becky Locknane** presented on behalf of the Realtor Community Housing Foundation, offering the Council details about the foundation's work and mission. Both presentations were informational in nature, and no votes or formal actions were taken as a result of either presentation. ## Council Report Council members provided updates on a range of topics during the Council Report portion of the meeting. **CM Gorton**, **CM McChord**, and **CM Blues** were among the key speakers who reported on various matters, including neighborhood meetings and amendments to the NDF (Neighborhood Development Fund). The reports were informational in nature, with no formal action taken as a result of the discussion. Specific details shared by each council member regarding the neighborhood meetings and the NDF amendments were not further elaborated in the available record. *Note: No transcript timestamp is available for this agenda item.* ## Mayor's Report During this agenda item, the Council discussed the process for handling nominees to the Planning Commission. The discussion centered on whether to hold a confirmation hearing for the Planning Commission nominees. Council Members Gorton and Martin were the key speakers in this discussion. The Council ultimately voted to approve holding a confirmation hearing for the Planning Commission nominees. No additional details regarding the specific nominees, the nature of any debate, or concerns raised during the discussion are available in the meeting record for this item. ## Public Comment — Issues not on the agenda No members of the public came forward to offer comments on issues not on the agenda during this portion of the June 22, 2010 Council meeting. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Place revised resolution amending Council Rules on Thursday's docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the docket as amended - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the summary from June 15, 2010 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Remove last line of the memo in item K - **Motion** — passed (13-2): Table item C - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve New Business items - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Schedule a public hearing on the tax bill issue for 8/31/10 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Amend the NDF for Casa by decreasing it $200 - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Keep the golf issue, enterprise fund, in the Services Committee for the August meeting - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the NDF list - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Amend the amounts of the NDF to DLC for various projects - **Motion** — failed (6-7): Remove Dewitt Hisle as chairman of the Internal Audit Board - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve having a confirmation hearing on 6/24/10 for the nominees for the Planning Commission - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Approve the Mayor's Report, without the Planning Commission - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Adjourn the meeting --- ## Full transcript can use that money to replace the equipment that's broken. So Mayor, I have on the June 15th neighborhood development funds, I have an amendment so I need to know if I should make that motion now since it's been brought up. I was going to wait until later because I thought it was going on Thursday's docket. So my understanding is if Council Member Lane's motion is approved, okay. I may be able to explain. Council Member Lane's NDF request had a budget amendment that went with it so in order to get two readings this fiscal year it had to be walked on today. The rest of your NDFs don't have that same requirement so they could be given two readings on Thursday night. I appreciate your clarification. No problem. All right, before you get away, Ms. McGee, if you come back I think there's another question. Council Member Crosby. Council Member Lawless had some changes to hers so would those need to be made at this point too if it's? We can make those changes at work session because those items aren't on the docket for this council meeting. Okay. I just wanted to clarify. Thank you. All right. I think the motion on the floor now is to amend the docket by adding the item described by Council Member Lane. If there's no further discussion, those in favor of placing on the docket the ordinance transferring the funds from NDF to Parks and Recreation please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Madam Clerk. Ordinance No. 2, an ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lexington-Fayette-Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for funds in the amount of $5,330 from Neighborhood Development Funds and the Division of Parks and Recreation for replacement of playground equipment at Veterans Park and appropriating and reappropriating funds, Schedule No. 151. If there are no motions, we'll move on to announcements. Any announcements? Council Member Crosby. I move to place on the docket under first reading of ordinances an ordinance of budget amendments to provide funds for streets, roads and forestry, community corrections, finance and code enforcement. It is necessary to walk on these items to get two readings during FY2010. Second. Hold on. Any discussion on Council Member Crosby's motion? Seeing none, let's vote. Those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Those opposed, no. Motion carries. Madam Clerk. Okay. And also, I think Mr. Lane is going to have an amendment to what we just walked on, No. 2, because of an incorrect figure that was in the resolution heading or the ordinance heading that I just read. All right. Well, let's go ahead and give first reading to Council Member Crosby. First reading of ordinance No. 3 is an ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lexington-Payette-Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for municipal expenditures and appropriating and reappropriating funds, Schedule No. 152. Thank you. Now, Council Member Lane, do you have a motion to amend? Yes, sir. The correct amount should be $5,830 and it was incorrect on the ordinance as it was prepared. I did say $5,830, but the clerk referred to the original written document and read $5,330, so we need to amend it to $5,830. So moved. I have a motion and second to amend ordinance No. 2. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Madam Clerk. Ordinance No. 2 as amended, an ordinance amending certain of the budgets of the Lexington-Payette-Urban County Government to reflect current requirements for funds in the amount of $5,830 from Neighborhood Development Funds and the Division of Parks and Recreation for replacement of playground equipment at Veterans Park and appropriating and reappropriating funds, Schedule No. 151. Any further motions? Any announcements? Any public comment? Seeing none, a motion to adjourn would be in order. I move adjourn. Second. I have a motion by Council Member Stennett and second by Council Member Ellinger to adjourn the council meeting. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. All opposed, no. Motion carries. I think we're now almost ready to convene the work session, although I understand from our clerk's office we need just a moment. So soon. Okay. We're ready to go. First item on the work session agenda today is public comment on issues that are on the agenda. Is there anyone that wishes to comment on any issue on today's agenda? Seeing none, we'll move along. We have a docket to approve. Is there a motion? Motion to adjourn. Second. I have a motion by Council Member Ellinger and a second by Council Member Myers to approve the June 15th, excuse me, the docket for the June 24th meeting. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. We need to approve the June 15th summary. I have a motion by Council Member Beard and a second by Council Member Crosby to approve the summary. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Council Member Myers? Mayor, at the appropriate time, I have a couple of amendments I want to make to the docket for Thursday. All right. I think during Council reports would probably be the most appropriate time to bring that up. Council Member Gordon? Mayor, we did receive an amendment to the land subdivision regulation. Do we need a motion to put that on without a public hearing or not? It came to us from the Planning Commission. Ordinarily, I think the Council handles these just like a text amendment to the zoning or it's deciding whether to put it in committee or just refer it to your meeting agenda for two readings. In that case, may I go ahead, even though we've approved the docket, to move that we place SRA 2010-2 on the docket without a public hearing? Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. And since we're into the docket now, Council Member Myers, if you want to go ahead and make your motion. Thank you, Mayor. The first one I want to make is that I'm passing out the revised resolution. You know, we've had several discussions about the reorganization or restructuring of the Council rules and the meeting structure, and we have the final iteration from the Law Department. I'd like to circulate that and make a motion that we add that to the docket for this Thursday. So moved. I have a motion by Council Member Myers and a second by Council Member James to add that item to Thursday evening's docket. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Anything further with regard to the docket? Okay, let's move along to budget amendments. We have a few to be approved. Is there a motion to approve? I have a motion by Council Member Ellinger and a second by Council Member Lane to approve the budget amendments. Any discussion? Seeing none. Those in favor, please vote aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. We have several new business items for your consideration. Is there a motion to approve? I have a motion by Council Member Gordon and a second by Council Member Stinnett to approve the new business items. Any discussion? Council Member James. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to move that we table item C. I put a call or an email out to Public Safety on this issue and I haven't had a chance to actually speak with anybody directly. I did get some feedback that was given to my legislative aide, but since this has come up, I've had some feedback from other divisions, in particular planning, that I think that we need to weigh in on this. I think it's going to take a little bit longer. So I make a motion to table item C. Do I hear a second? Second. I have a motion by Council Member James and a second by Council Member Gordon to table item C. It's non-debatable, so those in favor, please indicate by voting aye. Aye. Opposed, no. All right. Let's vote electronically. Madam Clerk, set the machines. Those in favor of tabling the item, please indicate by voting yes. Those opposed, vote no. It appears as though the motion table carries by a vote of ten to two. All right. Any further discussion on the new business items? Council Member Ellinger. Thank you, Mayor. Number M, please. It looks like Commissioner Webb. If you could come forward on item M, please. So Kevin Wente, I guess, is the one who sent the memo here. Thank you, Commissioner. We've been talking about the Wayfinder, I think, as long as I've been on here in 2002. Where are we staying? Do you want to have it ready by the World Equestrian Games? Yes. Actually, this is an amendment to Wilbur Smith's contract to provide inspection during installation and some additional, it would provide additional changes to signs at the last minute where destinations have changed. Actually, Kevin can fill you in more completely than I can. Thank you, Commissioner. We had a lot of changes based on new MUTCD rules that changed the scope of the final design based on state requirements. So that expanded the contract beyond what we had originally agreed upon when we started the final construction documents. In addition to construction oversight, we would like to have Wilbur Smith available just to make sure that the materials, construction, design, and materials are all correct as well. So they're going to be on site to actually inspect those as they're being implemented. The next council work session, you will see the selection of the design group or fabricator for construction of the signs and the installation. You will receive first reading July 1st, and second reading would be July 6th. They are given a 90-day timeline to complete construction. So we should be right in under the wire. And if they feel like they can't, we've got a series of timelines as far as how we'd like to implement to accommodate to the best of our ability the World Equestrian Games. We have that as our goal to be ready. I have it as my personal goal to be ready. I'm glad. Thank you. You're welcome. Council Member Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. This is in relation to item K, and I had sent an email around about this, and Commissioner Webb, thank you very much for your answer. If you turn to page 41, the detail of the $100,000 Flight 5191 Memorial Grant from the Transportation Cabinet, there is an error on page 41, the last sentence of the first paragraph that says the LFUCG is responsible for all costs in excess of $100,000, and Commissioner Webb has confirmed that that is not true, correct? Yes, ma'am. This was the desire of the Transportation Cabinet to provide funding to the group doing the memorial. They cannot contribute directly to that group, and they are using LFUCG as the route to provide that funding. In the agreement, the agreement is between LFUCG and the Transportation Cabinet, and this was a standard agreement that was modified to do this, and it was actually just to make clear that $100,000 is all that's coming. Well, I guess my question to you is, my preference would be to remove that line. We can amend this. Yes. Actually, you have already talked to Irene Gooding about that. She is here. And we can do that and resend it to Council through, I'm not sure, I've not had to do that. If there's a process for that. Well, I wouldn't want to hold up the agreement. There's been a lot of good hard work done on the part of the Memorial Commission and the Arboretum, and so if I could simply make the motion to ask Irene Gooding to remove it, would that, without it having to come back to us, would that satisfy it? That would be fine. We'd be glad for her to remove that sentence and then send it back out to everybody and provide a copy to the Council Clerk's Office. Okay. I move that we ask Irene Gooding to remove the LF-UCG as responsible for all costs in excess of $100,000. Second. Thank you. All right. Just a second. Okay. The motion is to request Ms. Gooding to modify page 41 of the packet by deleting the last sentence in the first paragraph. Yes. And I had a motion by Council Member Gordon, but I'm not sure who made the second. Henson. Okay. Council Member Henson seconded the motion. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The motion carries. Any further discussion on the new business items? Seeing none, let's proceed to vote. All in favor of approving the new business items, please indicate by saying aye. Aye. Opposed, no. The motion carries. We're now ready for presentations, and the first is from our County Clerk and our former member of the Council, Don Blevins. Welcome back. Good afternoon, Mayor and Council Members. It's good to see you guys, some old friends. Hope you all are doing well. Here to talk about the exciting topic of tax bill preparation. If you'll go ahead and pass the mic. First let me apologize. As many of you all know, my son is seriously ill, and we were a little busy with some of that, his recuperation last week. My staff is handing out some background material for you. Normally we'd have it here by the 72-hour deadline, but I was unable to do that last week. This is completely on me and not the Mayor's office. Thank you. So property tax bills, the overall calendar, as you all are aware, is taxpayers. As of January 1st, the property tax, the owner of the property is the one that will be billed for the property taxes. Along about April, we begin the appeals process with the PVA. That appeals process for this tax year is wrapping up this week. Then the Department of Revenue at the State will certify the assessments. And then by September 15th, my office has to have the tax bills printed and delivered to the Sheriff, who then mails them out to the taxpayers so that taxpayers have approximately a month to meet the discount period, which is November 1st. If they're unable to do that, they can pay the face value of their tax bills by December 31st. So overall, that's the process. Appeals wrap up this week. By September 15th, I have to have the bills printed, and then taxpayers pay their bills by December 31st. What I want to do now is zoom in on the part of the process that affects you guys so that you can do a little bit of planning for your meetings later this year. In your handouts, you'll see a calendar, and I want to thank Commissioner Rumpke, old friend Bill O'Mara, and Elizabeth McGee for helping us pull this together. In the middle of July, the process for setting the official assessments comes out of the Department of Revenue. It's called the certification. That will be delivered to Fayette County on July the 19th. Statute requires that a 45-day period then kicks off, and you guys have 45 days to set your tax rates. You need to know that the staff and I have met with the other taxing districts of the Extension Service, Soil and Water Conservation, and the Health Department, and they've committed to have their recommendations for their tax rates to you guys by early August. The combination of all that and Bill's group, Bill O'Mara's group, or budgeting, I guess, will have you their rates or their recommendations by August the 4th. So all of this will come together in early August for you guys to consider what rates you want to set. So what you have in the calendar is a proposal that will allow you maximum flexibility for whatever rates that you all would like to set for this coming tax year. If you'll zoom in on August the 17th, that's your first work session when you come back. That will be your first opportunity to discuss publicly the tax rates. If we stay on this proposed schedule, you'll do your first reading that following Thursday. This allows us to comply with statutes that require advertisements and possibly public hearings depending on what you all set. And then the final reading will be at a special council meeting on August 31st where you will have your second reading and the public hearing for those rates. So it's an aggressive schedule, but it's the only way we can do it so that we're compliant with statute and all of us fall in place. Let me pause here and see if there's any questions on the deadlines and then we can go on with a little bit more detail. Any questions for Mr. Blevins? All right. So the only action that you all would need to take before you go on break is if you so choose to set a public hearing, and I think that's something we've chosen to do in the past. I think it's a good idea. You'll want to go ahead and make the motions appropriately to set that meeting. Other than that, you just need to be prepared to review the results that are presented to you in mid-August and be prepared to set your rates by August the 31st. I think historically our public hearings have taken place in connection with a work session or a council meeting as opposed to some separate time. That's correct. Council Member Gordon. Yes, Mayor. I'm wondering if, Council Members, would July the 6th, we have our 3 o'clock work session and our 6 o'clock council meeting. Would we want to consider putting it at 6 o'clock with our council meeting? Okay, the public hearing. It needs to be in August. It needs to be after you. Okay, I'm sorry. I misunderstood. Right. I'm sorry. Let me be clear. Once you all have decided the rates and then advertised them, there's a set period of time that has to elapse and then you have the public hearing. If you want to stay on the schedule that allows all this to work, about the only opportunity you have to do this public hearing would be right prior to the work session on the 31st. You don't have to do that. If you choose not to raise rates more than 4%, you don't even have to advertise or hold the public hearing, but if this keeps all your options on the table by following this calendar. Well, then I move that we set a public hearing on August 31st at 3 o'clock. Any discussion? Council Member Jaynes? All right. Seeing none, those in favor of setting a public hearing on August 31st, please indicate by saying aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Anything further, Mr. Blevins? Council Member Jaynes? Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Don, for bringing this information to us. I think it was when you were still on council we passed the vacant property review board stuff, the blight tax. Would this be the time when we need to start implementing, make sure we have the rates set for blight tax as well? Actually, I wasn't on council then. I'm not sure what you're talking about. You'll have to educate me. Okay. Is it related to a property tax? It is related to a property tax. Blight tax, vacant property review, I need to make sure you have that information. If a property is considered blight, it will be taxed at a higher rate based on some criteria of clarification that council passed that a couple of years ago. So I want to be sure that we implement, if it's appropriate to implement in this timeline, I want to be sure that that is something. If not, then I need to make sure, and I see Mr. O'Meara coming down, but we do need to educate you on that so that your office is aware in case you get calls. Let me step aside and let the experts. Sure. Council Member James, I haven't read those statutes in a while, but my memory says that in order for that tax rate to be put into effect, the properties have to be certified as blighted before January 1st. So the rate that's applied is for not this fall, but the following fall. What still needs to be done is the properties have to be identified as blighted. You have an opportunity to appeal that, that is to the homeowner or the property owner, so that those properties are given to PVA by January, or I think it's December before January 1st. At that point, they are on the rolls to then be eligible to have the blight tax rate applied to next year's property taxes, not the ones that we're doing this fall. Okay. So we'll need to have, as far as what the increased rate will be, we won't need to have this discussion until a year from now. Correct. What is upon the doorstep now is having the blighted properties identified, the communications going out to the property owners, the appeals process, all of that prior to the end of this calendar year. Okay. Thank you. Thanks, Mayor. Council Member Crosby. I was just going to ask, Mr. O'Meara, if it's my understanding that we do have properties that have been identified. Is it an issue that we haven't had a board, I know the Mayor's been appointing people to the vacant property commission, but prior to that time there's been no appeals process because there hasn't been an active board to review this. Do you know if that's the case? I don't know that there's been properties identified. I know there's been discussions, but I don't know that there have been. It was my understanding from talking to Council Member James that the process of certifying a list and then identifying the property owners and allowing the appeals process had not occurred. Maybe the list I've seen, I believe that some of us were told on our committee on the vacant property review commission, and I could be confused that there was a list, but maybe they haven't been officially certified blighted, but that there was a list identified of those properties. But we can check with code and see. Thank you. Anything further for Mr. Blevins? Thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, everyone. Next, we have a presentation on the house. Mayor, can I? I'm sorry. Council Member Ellinger, I apologize. Thank you, Mayor. I just, sorry to interrupt the agenda, but I wanted to recognize the senior interns. This is our senior intern week, and Christy Stanbaugh here, if you would come forward, just kind of give us a little information about the senior intern program. I know this is your first year. This is actually my eighth year that I've been involved in, and it's one of my favorite things I do. It's a week-long process that the interns, and if the interns would stand up that are still left here, because I think some have left because we actually today finished up early today. So we told them if they want to go home, they can, but these are the ones who are getting extra credit. And thank you all for staying around here. It'll be duly noted on your report card come Friday. But we're certainly threatening that test at the end of the week. Exactly. So if I get any of this wrong, please correct me. This is the 26th year for the senior intern program, and this week has already been amazing. We have 35 registered seniors, and due to circumstances beyond others' control, we have about 28 that have come every day. There's nine of us on the committee, and we've been meeting pretty regularly since January, putting together an agenda so that our seniors can learn about city government, how it operates, and for the future that they could act as ambassadors for the city, maybe meeting and greeting and doing various different things. Friday, we culminate with a graduation ceremony. I'm not sure when this test is going to occur, but everybody's very nervous and taking lots and lots of notes. But Friday, we'll have our senior intern alumni luncheon at the Downtown Lexington Hotel, and we have about 200 registered alumni coming to join us for lunch. And they become a very cohesive group in the week that they're here with us and learning about government. And we appreciate the support of council and our Department of Social Services. And the mayor. And Shannon. And all the people with government that take their time to educate the seniors, because they do a great job. And I want to thank my own colleagues that were there yesterday, Dr. Blues, Ms. Gorton and Vice Mayor Gray, who came yesterday for the legislative process and helped out and educated the seniors, too. It's one of the most fulfilling programs I am involved with, because I think everybody has a good understanding, or they feel like they do, until they come here. And then you learn a lot more, I think, about what goes on with the government. You get a great appreciation of what goes on up here, but also what goes on with all the people that are doing the services for the county and the city. And I want to thank them. And I think they have an untapped wealth of knowledge and are gaining so much insight that they'll help us to improve our processes in the years to come. We look forward to it. Thank you all for participating. Thank you, Christy. And thank you all for helping out up here in the council. Thanks very much. We now have a presentation on the Community Housing Foundation. And I'd like for Ms. Lightening to come on up, and you'll have 15 minutes. Thanks for being here with us. I don't think it will take me 15 minutes, but good afternoon, Mayor Newberry and Vice Mayor Gray and council members. Can you all hear me? I'm Becky Lightening, and I'm president of the Realtor Community Housing Foundation. And for those of you that may not know, the Housing Foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization that was started in 1992 by the Lexington Bluegrass Association of Realtors. And over the years, we have built strong partnerships with the Remodelers Council of the Home Builders Association of Lexington and with LFUCG through funding from the Community Development Block Grants for Repair Affair, Ramp, and Emergency Projects. And I will say it has been our pleasure to work with the staff of Community Development. And I'm here today to say thank you for your all's partnership over the years and for the $40,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding that the Foundation has received each year for the past several years to help low-income homeowners 62 years old and older with exterior and emergency repairs on their homes and to help people with disabilities with safe access in and out of their homes. I'm sharing with you all some photos, if you can see behind you, Councilmembers, from one of the 15 houses that we repaired during this year's Repair Affair project. This was an extensive project, as you can see from the photos, and it was completed by about 50 volunteers working over a period of three days. And this Repair Affair was in May. We donated approximately 800 volunteer hours. This includes a few members of the Hollywood Mount Vernon Neighborhood Association in addition to the Realtor Community Housing Foundation, because that is where the home was located or still is. The repairs included new storm windows and doors, new rubber roofing on the back addition, repairing the ceiling and replacing the flooring of the front porch, the fascia and gutter repairs, and scraping, prepping and painting the entire house. It is estimated that the cost of this project would have been approximately $20,000 or more had the contractors been paid for the work and for all of the materials. The Housing Foundation volunteers and donors were able to complete this project for only about $5,000. This is really just one example of the hundreds of homeowners that have been helped by the Repair Affair program and the RAMP program that is supported by the Realtor Community Housing Foundation, and we just deeply would like to thank you all for your support. Any questions for Ms. Lightning? Thank you. All right. Thank you very much for being here. We're now ready for council reports. Council Member Gordon. Thank you, Mayor. I have two items, the first of which is the, it's my understanding the Law Department has our June 15th Neighborhood Development Fund request, and I move to amend that request to decrease the contribution to CASA by $200. I have a motion by Council Member Gordon, second by Council Member Crosby. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. And then my second item is, Council Members, you will recall that on September 3rd, 2009, we passed an ordinance which allowed local taxi cab companies to be granted a special event permit, and this allows them to request the permit to change the design and repaint their cabs for special events. And so one cab company, Yellow Cab, has done that and has cabs on the street that are painted for the World Equestrian Games. So they will bring two of the cars Thursday night at 530. They'll be parked in the spaces approximately in front of the Kentucky Theater so that Council Members and government folks and anyone who happens to be coming by there can take a look at the beautiful cabs and the way that they have implemented their special event permit. So that will be Thursday, June 24th at 530. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks. Council Member McCord. Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of things real quick. At last Tuesday's work session, Council Member Ellinger reported out the work of the Services Committee as it related to golf and some of the things that we had discussed there, specifically the Enterprise Fund. And I know there was a great deal of confusion as that got reported out, specifically that two different groups, auditing groups, had said that we need an Enterprise Fund for golf. Our Parks Director at the Services Committee meeting stated that he needed an Enterprise Fund for golf. And then the day before we voted on it, we received an email from the Parks Director saying don't vote yes for golf, Enterprise Fund. And I know a number of Council Members had shared their concern about vetting this issue. So I want to move that we keep the golf issue, obviously, in Services Committee, but very specifically for the August meeting, Council Member Ellinger, I'd like for the Parks Director and our golf folks to bring back the full details of what they need from the Enterprise Fund, what their concerns are, so that we can have that full vetting. So moved. So you want to have them bring it forward to the August meeting, so we need to contact them and tell them to have it ready for the August meeting? Yes, please. I felt like July was way too quick and we're going on break, so the August meeting should give them some time. I'll have Paul draft a letter and get that to them. Thanks. Thank you. There's a motion, as I understand it correctly, to request Mr. Hancock to appear at the August Services Committee meeting for purposes of discussing the Enterprise Fund. Correct. We have a second by Council Member Beard, I believe. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. One last thing. You know, it's so easy for us around here, but also as citizens, to get really bogged down in a lot of things that seem pretty important at the time and are frustrating, whether it be a pothole or a barking dog or a policy change or an Enterprise Fund or something like that. I think it's worth reminding everybody in this community that in just 94 days, the largest single event that's ever hit our state, much less our city, is going to happen. And while most of the economy has really damaged so many cities and we have certainly not been spared the effects of the Great Recession, as it's called, for us to be doing the types of infrastructure work we're doing, the types of community building projects we're doing, and to have the world come to our door, many cities we've really killed for that opportunity. And so it is a good time. And while we have more challenges than we can shake a stick at, I want to just remind folks that we are poised as a city to really jump forward and to do some amazing things. And if we keep our eye on the ball that we have a lot of guests from all over the world coming here and are going to see us in a very favorable light, what that might mean for our city, so that even though we have some things that may frustrate us greatly and really tie our hands to do some of the things that we want to do, that we do have so many things to be thankful for and so many things to look forward to. So just as a reminder to not lose sight of the bigger prize that really is only three months away. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Blues. Thank you, Mayor. I just have announcements of two neighborhood meetings on Monday, June 28th. At 7 p.m. the Radcliffe-Marlboro Neighborhood Association will meet in the community center in Marlboro Park, and some of our folks will, from Water Quality, will be up there to talk about stormwater projects in the neighborhood. So we hope we have a good turnout for that. And also there will be a discussion of the neighborhood survey in process. At the same time that evening, 7 p.m., Oakwood Neighborhood Association will meet in their community center in Oakwood Park. Thank you, Mayor. That's my report. Council Member Beard. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. This is kind of after the fact, but I just wanted to acknowledge that the Lansdowne Neighborhood Association met last for an annual meeting last evening at the Signature Club, at least 50 attendees. And in addition to a few minutes from me, we had a pretty extensive presentation by Chris King involving ND1 zoning and things of that sort. And then Michelle Kosiniak from Parks also made a presentation or discussion on what is known as the Zandale Park, which is not utilized much at all. Other than that, I would like to move that the approval of the NDF for this week. I have a motion by Councilmember Beard and a second by Councilmember Blues to approve the NDF. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you, Mayor. Councilmember Crosby. Thank you, Mayor. I actually have some amendments to the NDF. Councilmember Lawless is unable to be here due to illness, and she would like for the following amendments to be made. The Southland Association, she would like to reduce her NDF allocation from $500 to $340. Removal of contribution to Amanda's house of $25. Meters for homeless project from $750 to $690. And change for the art project from $750 to $690. So moved. Second. I have a motion by Councilmember Crosby and a second by Councilmember Lane to amend the NDF as specified by Councilmember Crosby. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, no. Motion carries. Thank you. Also, I wanted to say a quick thank you. I had hoped to do this last week, but I had to leave for an emergency. But I wanted to thank our Division of Police, specifically the East Sector. I see Commander Stack. I'd like to thank him, as well as Lieutenant Lombardi and our Traffic Engineering Division. Many of you all know that St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has a huge summer festival that kind of kicks off the summer. And as many of you all know who have areas where there's churches and they do large fairs and festivals, quite a tremendous impact on a neighborhood. And we were made aware in the wintertime that there were some issues with traffic flow and working the traffic flow. And the Division of Police and Traffic Engineering came up with a plan. And I think we've only had one complaint, which is down significantly from last year. So we appreciate your help with this matter in the 7th District. Also, I'd like to thank the FOP for the wonderful picnic this past weekend. I know a few of us were there, and it was a great event and very well attended. And then lastly, I just wanted to thank the neighborhoods. I know I'm going to be visiting with Stuart Hall and Fairways coming up here in the next few days. But I just wanted to thank everybody for inviting us to attend their meetings and giving us some time on their schedule. Thank you. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mayor. Council Members have a letter that I sent to the Chair of the Internal Audit Board, Mr. DeWitt Heisel, asking him to respectfully resign from the Board last Thursday. I got a response from him today about 15 minutes or so before this meeting, and he has declined to do so. And so we've got the letter from the Law Department dated July 13th, 2009, which outlines what boards and commissions that the Council can remove persons from without being in conflict with the state law or KRS, and the Internal Audit Board is listed as one of them. And so Council Members have the letter both that I sent to Mr. Heisel and his response, and I respectfully move to place on the docket for Thursday's meeting a resolution removing Mr. Heisel from the Audit Board. So moved. I have a motion by Council Member Myers and a second by Council Member Crosby to add that item to the docket. Any discussion? Council Member Lane. Thank you, Mayor. I too just got information on this a little while ago, and I would encourage the Council to be more deliberate in voting on something like this. There are a couple of points here. Members of boards are not prohibited from making contributions of funds or services to the campaigns of candidates for elected office. The employees of the Durham County Government are not prohibited from making contributions or even working for someone in our government who's running for office, provided they don't do it on the grounds of the government building nor do they do it during their regular working hours. I don't feel that there's any specific evidence or allegations have been proved that Mr. Heisel has done anything that is wrong or inappropriate, and I feel before we vote to throw him off of the board, there needs to be some proved allegation of wrongdoing. You know, the state auditor is currently doing a survey of the internal audit, external audit, and the allegation of fraud that was made against somebody in the government. We don't know who that person is yet, but I think we should also get their report before we make a decision. I think we also have to consider that how are we going to recruit other people to serve on our boards if we're so quick to, when an issue comes up, to vote them off the board and humiliate them and embarrass them in front of the public. I think that's inappropriate, particularly without any documented evidence of wrongdoing. I think, you know, Mr. Heisel has worked for Mayor Miller, Mayor Isaac, and Mayor Newberry, and he, I believe, was the original member of the board. The board was restructured to make it completely independent of council, and, you know, so I hear the council is voting to remove the head of the chair of the board. I don't know that that's necessarily appropriate either. I'm not even sure whether we can legally vote him off the board. I really don't know what our rights are in that regard. And then, you know, I have tried to recruit some good people to work for the government and boards and all that. I would have a hard time going to people to say serve on a board because, you know, some allegation comes up that's, you know, we're going to just vote him off the board with no, I mean, I don't know of anything that he's done wrong. By the way, I do serve on that board, and I think he's done a good job there. Also, you know, talking about conflict of interest issues, you know, I'd like to just mention that Mr. Myers is also a member of the Internal Audit Board, and, you know, I question whether he doesn't have a conflict of interest, if he's going to be the chairman of the board that's investigating the board that he serves on, because there's sort of an area there that needs to be looked at. So I would just ask the council to hold back, relax, maybe let the auditors from the state complete their work, and then we can make a more rational and timely and carefully considered decision on something this important. Thank you, Mayor. Further discussion on Council Member Myers' motion? Council Member Blues. Thank you, Mayor. I can appreciate Council Member Myers' concern about a possible conflict of interest, but I agree with Council Member Lane that this may be not appropriate or, at least at this point, rather premature. I think that a process has been set in motion that has not been complete and that when all the facts are in, particularly the auditor's report, that will be, I think, the more appropriate time to determine whether, you know, whether such an action is appropriate. Thank you, Mayor. Council Member Myers and Council Member Crosby. Thank you, Mayor. Let me respond to a couple of things that have been said. First, let me make it clear that this is not an indictment against Mr. Heisel. You are correct, Mr. Lane, in stating that the state auditor is looking into this as well as this investigative committee. My response or my request for him to step down has to do with the conflict that when you look at the rules in the charter, Section 2-449, Powers and Duties, the reason that this board was created and the reason it was created with the specific positions that it has on it, two from the Council to represent the Council's perspective, the mayor or his designee, there's an ex-official non-voting member that is the CAO or, in our case, the Special Advisor to the Mayor. The Council Administrator is a non-voting ex-official member as well. And then, in particular, those two outside persons are either supposed to be CIAs, CMAs, or CPAs. And the reason that they were put on there, it says that the two members shall be auto professionals from the community at large with a CIA, CMA, CPA, or other appropriate professional certifications. Number one, one of them shall be based on a recommendation made by the majority of the Urban County Council, appointed by the mayor, and approved by the majority of the Council. The reason that those two members were put on there is to serve as the representatives for the community that should have no ties or affiliations to the government. My contention is that with the chair being the treasurer for a political campaign for the mayor that is seated, that that is inherently the conflict. Because every audit that that board is responsible for overseeing and managing according to what the rules say is going to be an audit of the management of this government, the executive branch of this government, except for in the case of an outside audit like the Human Rights Commission. So the fact that there is that correlation between that campaign and the fact that they are to oversee all audits done by this government, that is a conflict. I'm not stating or implying that based on what's been alleged in that document that none of us have seen yet, that there is wrongdoing. So that is not a part of why I made this motion. If you look at Mr. Salih's response, he canceled, I actually put this on the docket for the next scheduled meeting for the audit board, and that meeting was canceled unilaterally by the chair of the board. The reason cited was different than what he put in his letter today. It was cited that the internal auditor was doing their investigation and we weren't going to have any meetings until after that. I serve on the board. It concerns me that when Mr. Salih responded to the Special Investigation Committee request for those documents, he stated in his argument why not to give them to him is that he doesn't take his supervision from the council, he doesn't take his supervision from the mayor, he takes his supervision from the board. The problem is that the board has not been allowed to give him any supervision, at least not that I'm aware of as a board member. The decisions that they made regarding that document I have questions about and haven't had a chance to answer because that board meeting was canceled. But subsequently, the auditor has legal counsel that the board had no say in who was hired or whether or not it needed that hire. There's a lot of things that are happening that if Mr. Salih is to take his direction from the board and the board is not meeting, then I have questions about where he is getting his supervision and his direction. And so those are the reasons why I've made this move or this request of Mr. Heisel to resign. Not because that whatever's in the audit, because we don't know. There's nothing in that audit that suggests, at least we don't know what's in the audit, so we don't know that there's anything in the audit that suggests that Mr. Heisel did anything wrong. So that is not what I'm implying at all. So I want to make that clear. Council Member Crosby. Thank you. Council Member Myers, can you please tell me, I'm looking at the information, I'm sorry, I just got this prior to the meeting. Can you please tell me the timing? You said the meeting was canceled by the chair of when you all were told that you had legal counsel and the memo that we received from Mr. Salih saying that you had legal counsel. What was the timing on that? Do you know? I know the date that the meeting was canceled. I know the date that the meeting was canceled. It was Friday, June 4th at 4.11 p.m. But I don't know. I think the counsel that's now the internal audit board's counsel was actually brought on to give counsel to the administration prior to him being switched over to the audit board. So I'm not sure the timeline's on when those things happened. Mr. Horne. I don't know. Can you answer that question? I'm not sure I can without documentation. It seems like Mr. Sellers had written to advise Bruce Salih, I want to say May 21st, but I don't have it in front of me that the opinion that he wrote would have been about that time. At that time was he representing the internal audit board or was he representing LPCG? My recollection of it is because of the request for the document, and there's only one of those documents in the possession of the internal auditor, because of the nature of that, the involvement of the Department of Law, risk management, et cetera, he was brought on to advise the government as to providing that document to you, the council members. At that time there was no reason to believe there would be any type of conflict in him providing advice to the internal auditor. Since the creation of this committee, I think there is potential conflict between counsel and advice to the internal auditor, which is why the committee has hired their own outside counsel to advise that special investigation committee. So on May 21st, he was representing all of LPCG and provided an opinion to the internal, I just want to make sure I'm very clear on what you're saying. That he provided an opinion for the government related to whether or not the council could see this confidential document. And then if he was representing LPCG at that time, that would be the same document that was also given to the press, right? By the attorney, Mr. Sellers? Which document? His opinion. That is my recollection that his opinion was provided to the newspaper. So if he was representing LPCG at that time, would he have gotten permission from the Department of Law to turn that over? Or who would he have gone to? I don't know what happened there. My understanding is that Mr. Sellers said there was nothing confidential or privileged in the opinion, so there was no reason not to provide it to the newspaper. I guess I'm just a little confused, because later then when he states he's representing the Department of Internal Audit, everything has become privileged and confidential. That may be a discussion you want to have with Mr. Sellers, because I have not been involved in what has transpired since then. I have been trying for months to have my questions answered, so I'll stop there with that. Mr. Myers or Mr. Lane, as members of the Internal Audit Board, do you know if the chair has ever asked internal audit staff not to attend their meetings, the Internal Audit Board meetings? Are you aware if the chair of the Internal Audit Committee has asked internal audit staff not to attend the meetings to make better use of their time? Generally the internal audit people attend the meeting, but I think there was a meeting at one time where there was some work in process and at some point they left the meeting and didn't stay there for the entire meeting. I'm looking at the response. I just got this letter a little bit ago in response to Mr. Myers. Can somebody tell me who requested the auditor of public accounts do an independent review? I did. You did? Okay. So Mr. Salih did not? I'm sorry? I think Mr. Salih had some conversation with them as well, but I know I did. Anyone else wish to speak to the question of whether or not to add that item to the docket for Thursday's meeting? Let me ask the clerk, are the folks who have indicated a desire to speak wishing to speak on the motion that's currently on the floor and give a council report? Because I'm not clear. Council Member Feigl. Again, one of the other comments is that we just got this information in the meeting just prior to this one, so I've not had time to look at it and really ask a lot of questions about it, and at this point I'm very uncomfortable taking any kind of action. I think this kind of document makes a presumption of wrongdoing somewhere along the way, and our internal committee has not even begun discovery, and our investigative committee has not even begun discovery, and I just feel like this is very premature to cast aspersions on someone when we have no more information than what we have been given today, and certainly not time to ask questions about it. And in fact, I'm not sure that this is the appropriate venue to be doing that. I think that's what the investigative committee was set up for in the first place. So I'm really not comfortable. To be totally objective, I haven't given to either candidate, and I was really hoping that we could keep politics out of this. So I just feel like that any reason or any rationale for asking an individual to step down because of an involvement with someone's campaign is premature. I was hoping we could keep politics out of this and try to get to the bottom of what is a very serious issue. I don't know Mr. Heisel at all, so I'm not trying to defend him, but I just feel like this is a pretty serious thing to do before we have discovered anything. And I respect Councilmember Myers, I think he's done a phenomenal job with the committee to this point, but I'm not ready to make this move. Thank you, Mayor. I'm reading something different in Councilmember's letter than some people that have talked. I don't necessarily read it as political, and I don't read it from the perspective of the investigative committee. I actually read it as we have boards on which Councilmembers sit, and any time that Councilmember sees something that doesn't allow the process to work, it's their responsibility to come back and report back to us, the same as every other committee we sit on as representative of the Arbor County Council. And if something's flawed about that process that doesn't allow our system to work on this end, I think it's the responsibility of the Councilperson to come back. And I read in this that in order for Councilmember Myers' spot as a Councilperson to be effective, there are certain things that need to happen. So if there are meetings that are being canceled, at a time at which that spot, that committee is really needed, their input is needed and there's a role that they play, I think we need to take that into account. So I'm not on the investigative committee, so I'm not too sure what's been going on with the conversations, but I don't read it. I think it's just an incidental at this point, and it's a positive incidental that we have Councilmember Myers that has the experience of what's supposed to be happening on the Internal Audit Board and the aspects of what's happening on the investigative committee. And at no point do I see the reference made as that he's doing this on behalf of the investigative audit committee. So I don't see that at all. And I think it's really not about wrongdoings. I think it's about the clearness of the process. And I've had a conversation with the mayor about this, and we talked. Mayor, you were very clear that if the chair thought that there was a conflict, he would recuse himself. But what I'm reading in his response is it's almost subjective as to whether or not he gets to choose whether he recuses himself or not. And I'm not sure how do you, besides removing a person, I don't know how I can be sure that there is a clear reason that he would recuse himself at the appropriate, I don't know if he will or not. I would hope he will. I mean, I don't really know him personally. But I think the transparency that our city needs when it comes to our boards and commissions, it's got to be solidified. And I think that is through the established process. And if we want to change the process, we should. If we don't want to have Council be able to remove it, then somebody needs to make the motion to change that process where Council can ever remove. Maybe there's some other process that needs to go through. I would have to support the motion because of the process. I don't know him personally. I'm not even on the investigative committee, so it has nothing to do with accusing anybody of anything. I'm waiting until all that information comes forward to me to the Council to make my final decision on how I feel about it. I'm going to let the investigative committee do their work. But I need the Council member represented on that board to be able to do their work, too. If they're not meeting, then he can't even represent us. Thank you. I just wanted to add a couple more thoughts. The one thing to keep in mind is that the Internal Audit Board is supposed to be an independent board. It does not report to the executive branch or the legislative branch of government. And so it should be totally independent. I think it's important also just to let the general public know that confidentiality is the number one term used by the independent auditor. And the reason for that is you need to make it where if somebody has some allegations of fraud or mismanagement to make to the board, that they will know once they make that allegation that it will be maintained in confidentiality. Because nobody will ever make an allegation or report a problem if their confidentiality is not maintained. Likewise, if somebody makes an allegation and the internal auditor is unable to verify there's any documentation to support that allegation, then that needs to also be maintained in confidentiality also. Because if you release that information, then you're impugning the integrity of the person to whom the allegation has been placed against. And they're entitled to some confidentiality. And so that's one of the reasons for the independence of this board. My last thought is that if you had a choice between having the state auditor make an allegation or report a problem, do the review of this, of the internal audit, external audit, the alleged fraud that was supposed to be perpetrated by somebody in the government, would you rather have them do that audit or do you want a council committee to do it? The people that work for the state are their professional certified auditors. And unfortunately, our council members are not qualified, in my judgment, to do an investigation because that's not their credentials. They're not certified to do that. And I think in order to be fair to everybody, we ought to let the state auditor complete this process before the council takes any action. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Councilman James said most of what I wanted to say. I do want to make it clear that this request to the chair of the audit board was done as a member of the audit board and a member of this council and not as the chair of the Special Investigation Committee. Secondly, this whole issue of confidentiality is out the window because the person in question's name has been circulated in the newspaper and in public meetings for more than a month now. And I think that although it is great that we're having the state auditor come in and take a look at this, there's a reason why in the council rules and in the charter, it allows for the council to create such a committee to do the work that this one has been charged with doing. So again, you know, the whole comments about this being political, you know, I sent a letter from me, not that committee, to Mr. Heisel. If he had stepped down, then you guys wouldn't even have known that I asked him to. So politics has nothing to do with this. If you look at the reasons stated, the reasons I stated here today, I made it clear that I am not accusing Mr. Heisel of any wrongdoing. It's simply the way that the board is operating right now, or he as a chair specifically, the fact that the auditor is operating apparently without supervision, at least from the board which was charged with providing that supervision, and that there is an inherent conflict that I stated before. So it's with that that I made the motion. Thank you. Council Member Beard. Thank you, Mayor. Two or three points. One is the auditor of public accounts, I believe, is the proper title for Craig Llewellyn. Do they actually go into the processes in the situation, or are they just handling the dollars and cents? And maybe you can help me, Mayor, on that. My understanding from my conversation with Ms. Llewellyn was they were going to be looking at the processes. Thank you. Excellent. As I remember, this body here voted unanimously to form this committee, investigative committee. And so I think that in and of itself gives it a bit more punch than what might be the case if it was a split vote, an eight to seven or something of that sort. Obviously, as Council Member Myers suggested, this was a creation in the charter, and if in fact we are looking for ways to knock the legs out from under this committee, well, let's just put it this way, it would be a shame to do so. I think the members of the committee, there hasn't been a political breath drawn in the last five years. And we're just interested in finding out exactly how the process happens and if fairness has been dealt to the individual or individuals that were involved in this risk assessment and anything attendant to that. And so I feel very confident in being a part of the committee and I feel like it's a mandate to go further with it. And I certainly will. Thank you. Council Member Henson. I assure you that my decision on how to vote on this motion is in no way political. But what I look at is what's right and what's wrong. And I think in light of what's happened in the past with the airport and the library and so forth, that this just really looks very bad. I think that I do not know Mr. Heisel. I don't remember ever meeting Mr. Heisel. I have the most respect for you, Mayor, but he did not or in my opinion should not have put himself in that position. He didn't have to be the campaign finance manager. He was on the internal audit board and this review board oversees our government and makes sure that we are on the up and up. And to me, it is a definite, I see it as a definite conflict. So I will support your motion, Council Member Myers, and thank you. I think as council members we all have our opinions here and there, but we're all in this together. We really, really need to stand up and I kind of feel like when we look at our past experiences, maybe we did not in the past. So this is one time I'm definitely going to thank you. Vice Mayor Gray. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Heisel. I'm a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. I'm a member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce. And because I would like to avoid any conflict or appearance of a conflict, I will recuse myself from the discussion and from the vote on this. Thank you. Mr. DeWitt was president of the JCs at that time and I've known him for 50 years. And there's absolutely no indication of any wrongdoing or rule bending or whatsoever. He's a very highly respected CPA. This is, again, just a little twist that involves the government, and I would hope that you would support it. In my esteem of him, he will accept. It's a time that I do support Council Member Myers' motion. Thank you. Any further discussion? Motion on the floor, then, is to place on the docket for Thursday evening's meeting a resolution removing Mr. Heisel from the internal audit board. Those in favor of that motion, please indicate by voting yes electronically. Those opposed, vote no. Motion fails by a vote of six to seven. Anything further in your Council report? I did wish to make a Council report, but that list has left my screen. So if you'd like to make a report, if you would, please indicate your desire to speak. I'm not getting any others. Does anyone else wish to make a Council report? All right. Thank you very much. I know we have a confirmation hearing that we need to schedule on a couple of them. Council Member Gordon, do you want to make that motion? Yes, Mayor, thank you. We have a recommendation of two persons to go on to the Planning Commission, one for appointment and one for reappointment. Is there a motion in the Fifth Floor Conference Room for those two appointees? I have a motion by Council Member Gordon and a second by Council Member Martin to schedule a confirmation hearing for Ms. Beatty and Mr. Cravens on June 24th, 6 o'clock in the Fifth Floor Conference Room. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Any opposed? I have a motion from Council Member Lane and a second by Council Member Martin to approve the recommended appointments other than the Planning Commission appointments. Any discussion? Council Member Gordon. Yes, I just wanted to be sure Council Members saw the email. We did have a confirmation hearing on her February 25th. So it's very recent that we did that. So that's why I did not include her in the motion for a confirmation hearing. Anything further? Those in favor of the end of approving the appointments other than the Planning Commission appointments, please indicate by saying aye. Are there any public comments on issues not on the agenda? Seeing none, a motion to adjourn would be in order. I have a motion by Council Member Gordon and a second by Council Member Myers to adjourn. All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, no.