# Council Special Social Services and Community Development Committee - September 24, 2013 > Auto-transcribed civic record · September 24, 2013 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/3121 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/3121?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2013-09-24 - **Last revised**: July 15, 2026 - **Length**: 8,467 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Social Services & Community Development Committee met on September 24, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Government Center, 200 East Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky, with Ford presiding. The committee addressed five agenda items during the session, including approval of the previous meeting's summary, updates on grants programs and HUD initiatives, and a multi-cultural affairs briefing. One agenda item on Workforce Investment & Development was withdrawn from consideration. The committee took eight votes and heard five public comments during the meeting. One informational item regarding matters referred to the committee was also presented. ## Attendance The following individuals were present at the meeting on September 24, 2013: * Ford * Akers * Ellinger * Kay * Lawless * Stinnett * Scutchfield * Myers * Beard * Lane No absences or late arrivals were recorded. ## Votes and Decisions The committee took action on eight motions during the meeting, with seven passing unanimously and one withdrawn. **Approved Motions:** - Motion to approve the August 27, 2013 committee summary, moved by Ellinger and seconded by Beard, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:00] - Motion to add points to the FY 15 Social Services Partner Agency funding process for programs addressing needs identified in the Needs Assessment, moved by Myers and seconded by Akers, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:31] - Motion to adopt the schedule for the Partner Agency funding process, moved by Myers and seconded by Scutchfield, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:31] - Motion to add one week to the schedule for review and corrections in the Partner Agency funding process, moved by Myers and seconded by Akers, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:31] - Motion to add program outcome points to the FY 15 Social Services Partner Agency funding process, moved by Myers and seconded by Beard, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:31] - Motion to amend the Financial Statement to require reporting of salary and positions for direct program staff only, moved by Myers and seconded by Ellinger, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:31] - Motion to add a question to the application regarding how a program would be impacted if it received less than the requested funding, moved by Myers and seconded by Ellinger, passed unanimously [timestamp: 00:01:31] **Withdrawn Motion:** - Motion to recommend to the council that Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government pursue a designation as a local workforce investment service area, moved by Ford and seconded by Lawless, was withdrawn [timestamp: 00:50:10] ## Budget and Financial Actions The meeting addressed three significant financial allocations: **Section 108 Loan Guarantee for 21C Hotel Project** A $6,000,000 Section 108 loan guarantee was approved for the 21C Hotel Developer. This financing mechanism supports the hotel development project. **Emergency Solutions Grant Funding** Approximately $3.1 million in Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding was allocated to subrecipients for homeless services programs. These grants support emergency assistance and housing solutions for individuals experiencing homelessness. **HOME Investment Partnerships Program Funding** Approximately $3.2 million in HOME Investment Partnerships Program funding was distributed to subrecipients for affordable housing programs. This funding supports the development and preservation of affordable housing opportunities. ## Public Comment Five speakers addressed the board during the public comment period, raising concerns about language services, workforce training costs, and the need for more detailed planning before major decisions. **Language Services and Recruitment** Lawless [timestamp: 00:27:54] suggested recruiting multilingual professionals from high-cost cities such as New York and San Francisco to address language gaps in Lexington's social services, education, and healthcare sectors. **English Language Training Costs** Lane [timestamp: 00:35:15] inquired about the cost of advanced English language training programs. Lane noted that BCTC offers free classes up to the intermediate level, but advanced classes range from $2,000 to $6,000 per semester. **Data Requirements for Decision-Making** Scutchfield [timestamp: 00:59:28] expressed support for the workforce investment area proposal but requested additional information before voting. Scutchfield stated that the poverty map alone was insufficient for making an informed decision. **Action Plan Over Intent** Myers [timestamp: 01:01:05] called for concrete action rather than a resolution of intent. Myers suggested bringing back the Workforce Investment Board and stakeholders to develop a specific action plan. **Workforce Development Coordination** Beard [timestamp: 01:04:58] highlighted the need to consolidate multiple overlapping workforce development groups into fewer, more effective entities. Beard emphasized that the current structure risked inefficiency and duplication of efforts. ## Appointments Malcolm Rashford was appointed to the Community Action Council. ## Contested Items **Workforce Investment Area Designation** A proposal to pursue a local workforce investment service area designation generated significant debate among meeting participants. The disagreement centered on multiple concerns regarding the readiness and necessity of the initiative. Key points of contention included: - **Data Sufficiency**: Participants questioned whether adequate data had been gathered to support the designation proposal, with concerns raised about the completeness of information available for decision-making. - **Stakeholder Coordination**: There was debate over the need for broader coordination with stakeholders before moving forward, suggesting that additional consultation and input were necessary. - **Urgency of Unemployment Issues**: While some emphasized the pressing need to address high unemployment in areas such as the East End, others appeared to prioritize obtaining more information before proceeding. The proposal resulted in a split vote, indicating that participants were divided on whether to advance the initiative at that time. **Outcome**: The motion was withdrawn following the expression of these concerns. Rather than proceeding to a final vote, proponents chose to step back, acknowledging the insufficient information and need for additional groundwork before reintroducing the proposal. ## Approval of August 27, 2013 Committee Summary The committee voted to approve the summary from the August 27, 2013 meeting by unanimous voice vote [timestamp: 00:01:00]. **Key Speakers** - Ellinger - Beard **Content Approved** The approved summary included updates on two primary matters: - Social Services Needs Assessment - FY 15 Partner Agency funding process **Outcome** The committee approved the August 27, 2013 Committee Summary without objection. ## Division of Grants & Special Programs Update & HUD Programs Status [timestamp: 00:02:08] Irene Gooding presented an update on the Division of Grants & Special Programs, covering HUD funding status and related initiatives. **Topics Covered:** - Projected HUD funding cuts and their implications - The 2014 Consolidated Plan - Section 108 loan guarantee for the 21C Hotel - The division's compliance monitoring responsibilities - Management of subrecipients **Presenter:** - Irene Gooding **Outcome:** This was an informational presentation with no action items or decisions required. ## Multi-Cultural Affairs Update Isabel Taylor presented an update on multicultural affairs, focusing on demographic changes and service needs in Fayette County [timestamp: 00:16:41]. **Key Findings** Taylor highlighted significant growth in the immigrant population, reporting a 294% increase over a five-year period in Fayette County. **Infrastructure Gaps Identified** The presentation identified several service gaps affecting the immigrant community: - Language services - Job training programs - Mental health support **Recommendations** Taylor advocated for two primary initiatives to address these gaps: - Establishment of a dedicated multicultural office - Development of workforce development programs **Outcome** This agenda item was presented as informational, with no formal action or decision recorded. ## Workforce Investment & Development Council Member Ford proposed a resolution of intent to pursue a local workforce investment service area designation. [timestamp: 00:47:22] The discussion revealed differing perspectives on how to proceed with the initiative. Council Members Myers and Beard emphasized the need for a concrete action plan to move forward with workforce investment efforts. However, other speakers, including Scutchfield and Lane, raised concerns about the current state of planning and available information. After deliberation, it became clear that additional data and stakeholder input were necessary before the council could responsibly advance the proposal. The discussion highlighted gaps in the information available to support the decision-making process and the importance of consulting with relevant stakeholders before committing to a specific course of action. Council Member Ford ultimately withdrew the motion, acknowledging that further preparation and community engagement were needed. The outcome reflects the council's commitment to basing workforce investment decisions on thorough analysis and broad stakeholder support rather than proceeding without adequate groundwork. ## Items Referred to Committee [timestamp: 01:08:19] The committee acknowledged the referral of items for future consideration during this agenda item. Ford served as the key speaker for this discussion. A significant introduction was made during this portion of the meeting: Malcolm Rashford, the new executive director of the Community Action Council, was introduced to the committee. Following his introduction, Mr. Rashford was invited to present at the next scheduled meeting. The outcome of this agenda item was informational in nature, with no formal action taken. The referral of items and the introduction of the new executive director were noted for the committee's awareness and for planning of future meeting agendas. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed: Motion to approve the August 27, 2013 committee summary - **Motion** — passed: Motion to add points to the FY 15 Social Services Partner Agency funding process for programs addressing needs identified in the Needs Assessment - **Motion** — passed: Motion to adopt the schedule for the Partner Agency funding process - **Motion** — passed: Motion to add one week to the schedule for review and corrections in the Partner Agency funding process - **Motion** — passed: Motion to add program outcome points to the FY 15 Social Services Partner Agency funding process - **Motion** — passed: Motion to amend the Financial Statement to require reporting of salary and positions for direct program staff only - **Motion** — passed: Motion to add a question to the application regarding how a program would be impacted if it received less than the requested funding - **Motion** — withdrawn: Motion to recommend to the council that Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government pursue a designation as a local workforce investment service area --- ## Full transcript Music Thank you. Good afternoon. I'd like to welcome everybody to Social Services and Community Development Committee. This is a special meeting of the committee today, September 24th, as we're beginning at 1 p.m. Everybody has the agenda before you. Our first item of business is the approval of the August 27th summary. Is there a motion to approve? Motion to approve. It's been motioned by Council Member Ellinger. Is there a second? So, then. Second by Council Member Beard. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. That motion carries. The first of three agenda items that we have today is an update, particularly of our HUD programs, housing and urban development. I want to invite our Director of Grants and Special Programs, Ms. Irene Goody, to come to the podium and join us. Welcome, Irene. Thank you. I've given you a couple of pages. One of them gives you our HUD allocation history since the beginning of these programs, which was 1975, and up to the most current year for CDBG Home and what's now the Emergency Solutions Grant. and as you can see for the most part over the last several years these funds have dropped off. We have no idea what we'll be getting for 2014, but until we know better we usually use last year's funding as a guide to go by. I guess I would say that we would expect it to be cut this coming year. If you recall from 2011 when Congress agreed to raise the debt ceiling, there was an agreement that we all think of as we call it sequestration, which is really a 10-year event. So unless Congress changes what they agreed to in sequestration, than we would expect cuts over the next 10 years. And the other page I gave you is something from the National Community Development Association's report. This is their most recent report. They gave us an update on where Congress is right now with all HUD programs. And as you can see, the House Committee's recommendation on the Community Development Block Grant Program recommends something like a 50% cut. The Senate committee is recommending something that's closer to last year's level. It's also close to the president's request. Home has some also rather draconian cut from the House committee with the Senate committee and the president kind of in line with about the same amount. And actually, this is a list of where they are with all HUD programs. So we don't know when a decision will be made. Last year, the decision didn't get made until May, so it could be late this year as well. We have started the process for the 2014 Consolidated Plan. This information is on the website now, applications. If organizations want to request funding from CDBG, home, or emergency solutions grants, those application forms are up on the website. Applications are due on December 6th. We're available to help them if they need help. And this really doesn't lend itself to this screen at all, and I understand that. I was kind of asked fairly late to provide this, so I apologize. But as you can see, there certainly are no real recommendations to raise anything or to increase funding for any of these programs. And, of course, the House Committee is recommending quite a few cuts. Does anybody have any questions about our 2014 consolidated plan? It's the fifth year of the five-year cycle. So this coming year, 2015, we'll be doing what's called the five-year plan. HUD's changed the template quite a bit. We'll be doing an online application. It'll be in what they call the IDIS system. So the information will be the same. It will just look a lot different than it has in the past. Thank you, Irene. Are there any questions from committee members? I want to express appreciation to Irene for joining us and providing us this update. First, we have Council Member Stenwick. Thank you, Chair. Irene, thank you for joining us today and giving us the HUD update. on the Section 108 loan guarantees that are on the chart. Where do we stand on our Section 108 loan? Has it been issued? Are we paying interest yet? It has not been issued. It's been submitted to HUD. HUD still has some questions. The developer has had to change the pro forma somewhat in that they have determined that the project is going to cost more than they thought it would, and those costs also don't result in better revenue forecasts. So the project is being changed somewhat. So HUD has some, and they have submitted a new pro forma, and HUD has some questions about. And that loan was for $6 million, right? That request was for $6 million, yes. And what does that leave us left that we can ask for potentially if the city had other projects? About $3.5 million. Okay. It's based on the formula. It's your current amount of funding times five. So we're at two million, so it'll be about four million. I guess if it's cut next year, it'll be less. All right, very good. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Council Member. Thank you, Chair. Why is there no funding for brown fields? Do you know, Elphine? Or, I'm sorry. Brownfields? I don't know. Brownfields wasn't really, HUD funded them, but Brownfields is not really typically a HUD project. Most Brownfields funding, and there is still funding in the EPA program. So if you go to the EPA, you'll see funding for Brownfields. Okay. HUD's funding of it was. I wasn't sure where the line was drawn between EPA and HUD in relation to any predict. No, HUD just no longer funds it right now. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Council Member. Next is Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Ms. Gooding, for coming today. If the proposed cuts in the House are what Congress actually settles on and is signed by the President, Will that and how will that impact our application for that grant or for that loan if that hasn't gone through yet? I don't think, I don't think, I don't know for sure, I don't think it would affect it since we've already submitted the application. And if we certainly by during this year, if we could get all the information that HUD wants and we could get the loan done this year, I don't think that that would affect that amount. I think if we didn't and we waited until next year and those house cuts went through, it might affect it, yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Council Member Myers. Irene, I have just a few questions I want to ask you to highlight. Talk to us a little bit about the role that your division plays in regards to the, on behalf of this government and our community, in regards to HUD funding, in regards to monitoring, compliance, and ensuring that we continue to have good standing as an entitlement community. If you can just give us a real brief snapshot about that, that would be helpful. Okay, it's our responsibility to prepare and submit the consolidated plan and to manage the funds that are provided. We do the subrecipient agreements. We write those. We also monitor the subrecipients. We also monitor our own, the government's own expenditure of funds, For example, engineering uses some of the funds for public improvements. We monitor that. We monitor labor compliance. Before we can spend any money, we make sure that the environmental assessments are completed. HUD is the only agency as of this date that actually makes its jurisdiction responsible for environmental compliance. So for purposes of conducting environmental assessments, the mayor becomes the environmental certifying official for all HUD projects that we control. And I think HUD is the only agency that does this. We monitor compliance with Davis-Bacon wage rate. We also monitor all of our subrecipients to ensure that they are not only in compliance with the HUD regulations, but they're also in compliance with their own scope of work. Okay. And you just mentioned the subrecipients. Give us some examples of some subrecipients. And as I understand that, it is this government's responsibility to not only make sure that we allocate the funds to nonprofits and other organizations that carry out in a great deal a lot of this housing and community development work. But we also, the responsibility bears on this government to ensure that those sub-recipients comply. Give us just a few examples of sub-recipients, who they may be, and is that correct in regards to our compliance obligation? I guess the ones that we spent the most time on recently have to do with our subrecipients for the emergency solutions grant, where the requirement that these subrecipients submit information in the homeless management information system has become an absolute requirement. So our staff has had to spend quite a bit of time making sure. and because for the last several years they've used HMIS, but they've not really used it correctly. So we've spent quite a bit of time making sure that the information on homeless people was submitted in the HMIS system because this is the only information that HUD will get on the homeless population. If it's not in HMIS, then they were not homeless. Okay. Irene, just two more questions that I have. The chart that you provided for us, for our allocation, it appears we receive a combination of block grant, home funds, and emergency solutions. We receive approximately $3.1, $3.2 million from the federal government. What is the obligation match-wise from urban county government and general fund dollars towards these sources of funds, on average? The only, okay, home requires a match that's equal to roughly 25% of the federal funds. We get to exclude the 10% that we spend on administration, which we don't have to match. So it's really something like 25% times .9 times the federal amount. Okay, so maybe a quarter of a million, I'm sorry? Maybe a quarter of a million? Yes. And emergency solutions requires a 50% match. That's really a match that's equal to the amount of federal funds provided. Now, we are able to allow our sub-recipients to match these dollars with in-kind services. And then, Ms. Gooding, the last question I have. Thank you for bringing this HUD report. and we're hoping at least to have consistent levels of funding coming from Washington's last week of their fiscal years. A lot going on up there. But aside from the management of the HUD program, your office, the Division of Grants and Special Programs, also serves as a clearinghouse for any and every grant that comes to this government. Is that correct? That's correct. We provide the financial management of those projects. We also make sure that we're meeting the regulations, that we're meeting the reporting requirements, that the programmatic reports and the financial reports are submitted in a timely manner. And our goal, of course, is to make sure that we do not lose any of those funds due to not reporting or not doing what we're supposed to do. Okay. You guys have a wide vast, I guess a police grant, a fire grant that's on the docket this afternoon for work session, parks. Transportation. Okay. Very good. Are there any other questions for Ms. Goody? Irene, thank you for your report. Please keep us posted. Thanks. Next on our agenda is I'd like to welcome Ms. Isabel Taylor, who is going to provide us an update on the government's multicultural affairs program. Welcome, Isabel. Thank you very much. I want to point out that if you'll bear with me, I sent the latest information I had for 2013, which was the spring of 2013. But the day after I submitted my presentation to Paul, I got the new numbers, and they're significant enough that I felt it was important to bring those updates for you. So if you'll rely more on the information that you see up on the screen, I don't want to confuse you. Just bear with me. small right there. Yeah, that's it. Go ahead. I left this on the presentation just to remind you that the number one priority for every immigrant group that comes in is to learn English. So a lot of the issues that we have are because we're talking about such a wide range of non-English speakers, but I can assure you that they are trying their best, despite the fact that biologically, economically, and practically, it's very, very difficult for them to learn English. We'll go right into the statistics that I keep. Again, are based on Fayette County Public Schools data on the children that are learning English. ELL is English Language Learners. When I first arrived here, I was very surprised to find that there were 27 languages, foreign languages, represented there. This semester, we have 92. And to underscore how quickly that's changing, last semester it was 88, and that's the information you had earlier. So this semester, it's 92 languages, and they jockey back and forth in place. These are approximately the top ten. They will vary from semester to semester. And keep in mind that these are not perfect figures because children move in and out of ESL programs. So any moment in time, this can change. But I have found that this is probably the best indicator of our population here. In 2010, we were able to verify that through those figures, our estimates were very, very accurate. We were estimating that we had 11.3 of our population is foreign-born. And I want to point out that if you look at Kentucky statistics, they're going to say 3%. So you see there's a significant difference in what you get in Kentucky statistics and what you get in Fayette County. Today, with the 2013 figures, it's 15% of our population. So in only a brief period of time, we've gone up significantly. The population that I'm estimating today is 45,000 approximately non-English speakers. I'm showing you a map from the Pew Center. It's based on American Community Surveys, the censuses, American Community Surveys. And it shows you the top six states where immigrants are living. And we basically know all those. What is a surprise is this next. If you'll look, Kentucky is number one. in the nation for increase in immigrant population. In Fayette County, according to my records, we have grown 294% just in the last five or six years in immigrant populations. So why is it increasing in Fayette County? We do have a refugee resettlement center. The Refugees Resettlement Center may bring secondary refugees who come on their own from other cities. We also have just a worldwide international migration movement. If you talk to people in remote places in China, they're also seeing a huge increase in foreigners in their areas. Our area colleges and universities are recruiting aggressively. Every single college from Midway to UK are aggressively recruiting international students, particularly doctoral students, will come here with their families, parents, children, spouses. We also have heavy international trade and recruitment by local companies like Alltech, Lexmark, Toyota, the gas vans. And we have major events like WEG who are having a lot of effect. The international media has picked up on Lexington, and Kentucky is a good place to come. If you look at Kentucky statistics for international trade, it has doubled in the billions for international trade. What are the implications for LFUCG? I want to touch on some of the positive implications. Immigrants have the highest new business growth rate in the nation. That's very true here also. That brings us a higher tax base, higher employment base, higher international trade opportunities, and higher educational opportunities for our youth and our colleges. and, of course, cultural diversity. However, for the government particularly, there is a lack of infrastructure. We are not a traditional immigrant portal like New York, Chicago, L.A., so we're playing catch-up. We don't have infrastructure that helps us to integrate and assimilate immigrants into the economic and cultural life here. And I'll give you examples. Kentucky Refugee Ministries, KRM, they have funding from the U.S. State Department for approximately three to six months of an immigrant's time here. They help them to get their Social Security cards, their medical cards, they get their kids in school, they find them an apartment. But when that funding is over, the immigrants are left in an apartment that they may or may not be able to keep the payments on because they may or may not be able to keep a job with little or no English. So we have no transition structure that helps those refugees who are dropped by KRM to transition job training, help with setting up businesses, help with finding affordable housing, et cetera. The schools' frisk programs are trying to do the best they can. Some do better than others, but some of them are complaining that they don't have sufficient funding or training. Another example are in this area, we just don't have trained interpreters. You can go to a hospital, and if you're Russian, you're very lucky to find a trained interpreter. If you speak Kurdish, if you speak Warei Warei, there will not be trained interpreters. So there's a lot of infrastructure building that needs to happen. We are almost, in my opinion, at a crisis situation. For LFUCG, the different divisions, some have multilingual staff, some do not. And many of the cities that I've been studying, I come from Austin, Texas. They have an international center, which is really more focused towards the business and university, but they also provide a lot of social services, English, et cetera. Louisville has an international center. Even Bowling Green has an international center, and they have trained multilingual staff to assist. These people don't just assist the immigrants. They help the local agencies that serve the public. We also need education for immigrants. They need to know our culture. They need to know our laws. We need to know about them. LFUCG needs to know, for instance, if they're refugees coming from a particularly difficult part of the world. They may have a lot of PTSD. We don't have trained individuals who have the linguistic and the cultural background to deal with some of the male health or other issues, domestic violence, etc. And that's it. Thank you. Thank you, Isabel, for that report. Committee members, are there any questions? First up, we have Council Member Lawless. Because of my work at the Rape Crisis Center for many years, we were the first agents. I wrote a grant to the Justice Department for an immigrant outreach program and also later trafficking. Even trafficking, yes ma'am. And just finding someone who was bilingual even in Spanish was the biggest issue at that time. But one of the things that I'm aware of, number one, is that I believe the library has some online or DVD, something like Rosetta Stone. And I'll say... It's called Mango Languages. Yeah, whatever. I have tried about 3,000 times to learn to speak Spanish, Spanish immersion, Rosetta Stone, and I failed miserably. And that was when I was 20. So I have a bilingual granddaughter now. They talk about me. But anyway, so I think trying to look at, I think there are a lot of resources out there that technology has given us that we didn't have before, just like Google Translator and apps on telephones, et cetera, which I use a lot. But the other thing I think is that we also deal with a lot of undocumented immigrants who do a lot with especially agricultural endeavors. And I know it's not popular with a lot of folks, but what I know is they're some of the biggest victims in our community because they're afraid to report. They don't get paid. They know nobody can do anything about it. People say, well, they use our resources, but they use maybe a false Social Security number. They never reap the benefits of that. But they're so afraid that they don't report, they don't show up. So one of the things that I suggested years ago before I was on council is that our city look at some of these places where it is extremely expensive to live, like L.A., New York, San Francisco, where they have people who speak many languages. and teachers there don't make enough to have affordable housing. A teacher's salary here, the quality of life, and the cost of living. So if we as a government and also some of our businesses and, of course, the school system we don't control that would actively recruit from some of these large cities for government and agency and school employees on the salary they would receive here, it would be, I think, a really great way to bring more multilingual folks into Lexington and to our community to help with some of these problems. Have you all thought about that at all? Well, in fact, I very much agree with you that there are very qualified people elsewhere who would find this a wonderful place to live. I think it should also include social workers, mental health workers. Oh, well, I'm a social worker. We're very, very short on the mental health. Of course, I'm talking about social workers. But, I mean, teachers, social workers, nurses, nurses' aides, you know, caregivers. all kinds of folks. Because of the universities, so many universities here, we are attracting a very high number of well-qualified international people or people with a lot of international experience at a certain level. But I think you're right that there's a lot more recruitment that needs to happen. But we have local people also who are very highly qualified who are coming in, refugees and immigrants who are coming in with four and five degrees and four and five languages. They just don't speak English well enough. And so for me, the number one priority is to fast-track advanced English classes. And that's why we have a very good shortage of advanced English classes. What I'm hearing from your presentation is there are a lot of gaps, and there's not going to be one silver bullet. Right. So, you know, that's why I'm saying how can we recruit from those cities where the cost of living is very high for people like social workers, teachers, caregivers, nurses, and many of them are multilingual and recruit them here where the cost of living is so much lower. I totally agree. I think that we're having, we're trying to plan a conference for June, July of 2014, and it's one of the issues, the development of that infrastructure is very much one of the issues that we need to discuss and bring the public in on some solutions for us. I'm not being critical. I'm just throwing out suggestions. No, right. And the human trafficking, people have no idea, no idea, that that happens right here in this community from all over the world. And so that being said, I think trying to better utilize and educate. Leverage our resources. Yeah, like the library resources, et cetera, and fast-tracking advanced English. And I'll say if I found myself in another country next week, I would starve to death. So before, I mean, I'm just not a language person. But I do math well. But anyway, those are some suggestions that I have is that I think thinking outside the box, how can we better fast track, how can we recruit more people to teach these classes or to assist. And, you know, so that's all. I wasn't being critical. I was just offering some suggestions. Thank you very much. Thank you, Council Member Lawless. Next we have Council Member Lane. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yes, I was wondering, do you have any idea what it would cost to put somebody through English language training? Is there any kind of ballpark numbers on that? We have different levels, and we have free English classes from BCTC up to about intermediate level. The classes are only twice a week for an hour. It's really insufficient. However, they're very, very helpful. BCTC is the only organization funded by the state for adult learners. The advanced classes can be extremely, extremely expensive. UK, they have classes for one semester between $2,000 and $6,000 at their center. So very few immigrants can afford that. It's mostly the graduate students that come on, whether they're from Saudi Arabia or whether they're on a fellowship that it's paid for. So it's very restrictive. Well, there are, I know, some societies here for different cultures around the world. I mean, the one that pops in mind immediately is the Japanese American Society. And I was wondering, would there be any possibility of putting together some type of a program, maybe using some state funds? Maybe the urban county government could provide some funds, and maybe the society could provide some funds, and maybe the person getting the English training could put some funds in, try to boost the learning of English language. I feel that the international population in a city is really important And if you look at Bowling Green, for example, their population was somewhat stagnant for a number of years, and then they started encouraging foreign groups to immigrate there. And they are now one of the faster-growing cities in the state, and over 100,000 people now live in Warren County. Of course, it has Western Kentucky University and some technical schools there that I think are involved in this. And talking with both the mayor and judge executives a few months back, they were telling me that these people were very vital to their economy, they are entrepreneurial, created a lot of new businesses, started jobs. And that's one of the reasons that Bowling Green is doing as well as it is. I think it would be a very good thing for Fayette County and central Kentucky. I think you're absolutely right. And it takes a little bit of investment to get a big return because it is one of the most entrepreneurial parts of our population, sectors. Thank you for your presentation. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Council Member. Next is Council Member Beard. Thank you, Chair. The question of illegals, is there any estimate as to how many illegals are in Fayette County? The undocumented population, to my knowledge, has decreased quite a bit. Number one, there's, for instance, in the public schools, the children that are coming up are U.S. citizens. So proportionately, the population is much more stable in that regard. The parents are still, one or two will be undocumented, one or the other. They're very mixed families, so it's very difficult to get a handle. The father may be a permanent resident or a citizen, and the mother may not be, depending on how they came in. And the children through DACA, the teenagers, they're now able to work with Social Security cards. Their status is not changed, however. So what I'm looking at in terms of there is no population growth. What I've seen locally is that when I first came here, it was about maybe about 60% of the Spanish-speaking population. And you can only take a guess at the Asian populations and the white, Irish, Canadian, et cetera, pretty high in the undocumented also. So what I'm seeing from the Fayette County Public School figures, and they do not track Social Security numbers, but what I am seeing is that there's a decrease from about 66% Hispanic speakers only of that section of the population to about 48% last semester. This semester, it's different. It fluctuates. But my general impression is that for the past three years there had been a decline, either people moving away or gaining citizenship or gaining status. Or suffering from our recession. It's always, historically, the migration has followed the economic engine, absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you. Chair? Thank you, Council Member Beard. Next is Council Member Scutchfield. Hello. I have children in the Fayette County Public Schools, and obviously they've experienced a lot of non-English speakers in their classes. In particular, my son has a large Japanese population in my children's school. Are you in the South? I am at Athens-Chilesburg Elementary. I guess my question is, I know a lot of these students are coming over. their parents are working at Toyota. How much of the population is kind of temporary? Because I know that they'll come over for a couple of years and then they'll go back to Japan. Do you have any statistics on how many people? There's no way to track that, really, because the companies are loathe to give you that kind of data. probably the most accurate way to track it is through the ELL, because ELL tells you that they're brand new immigrants because they're not speaking English. If they've been here three or four years, the children pick up English pretty quickly. But the Japanese population is an older population, so it is more difficult for them to pick up the language. Japanese used to be second, and the ELL speakers, they're now about fifth or sixth. So their population is not particularly growing. It's like you said, it's really company-based, and it's not just Toyota. There are other Japanese companies in town, but it's a difficult thing to track. I think the Japanese school might be able to give us better information if you want me to look into that. Well, and it just wasn't with the Japanese population. I guess trying to figure out how many people are just temporary here, maybe coming in temporary. But as you said, you don't have the statistics. Just an educated guess. And a lot of the international population that comes in as students, for instance, they're graduate students. A lot of them get job offers locally, whether it's with the local hospitals, the universities, or the companies. So they tend to stay. Thank you, Council Member. Isabel, thank you for your presentation. I've had the opportunity to meet with you here recently. How long have you been in your role here with the government? Seven years in April. And also I think that you've done this as an office of one primarily? Yes. Since that time? I think in the past budget, Commissioner Mills brought forth a proposal to fund a position. Can you tell us just a little bit about that and what impact that will have to your still-too-much workload? It will be a tremendous, tremendous help. I'm very, very grateful for the assistance. What I found was that originally the office that I hold was supposed to be a macro office, gathering information about who's here, doing databases on the population, and doing Title VI assistance. However, in the past three or four years, it's become a one-on-one request for assistance from individuals that need help. And so I think that the individual that we're planning on hiring, we're already looking at applications. I think we got over 100 applications, and HR sent over about 30. and we're looking for a whole, whole depth and breadth of experience from this individual. They're going to have to cover a large area. However, the dilemma is do I pick someone that has multiple languages for the African diaspora or do I pick someone that has the Nepali and other Asian languages or do I pick someone that doesn't speak any foreign languages but has a lot of grant experience and immigrant service experience? So we're looking at everything, and we're going to leave some gaps anyway, but we're going to try to bring them on board very quickly. And one of the first things that I hope that they're going to help with is the Department of Emergency Management needs a lot of assistance in getting emergency preparedness on the ground for the international population. So that's one of the things that we're going to focus on first. Okay. Well, I don't see any more questions, Isabel. We definitely appreciate the work that your office does in conjunction with the commissioner's office, and we look forward for updates of how we can help you and that new staff member that comes aboard. Thank you very much. I think it was the November meeting that we invited the members of the Workforce Investment Board to come and visit this council, the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board. And they, at that time in November, we started a dialogue in regards to what they do in regards to the region workforce. The last few budget years, I've served on the link with Council Member Ellinger and Council Member Beard over the social services. And as early as 2011, we talked about workforce issues, you know, our capacity here in government, and how do we address our needs. There's a lot going on in our community, and I'm going to ask us to take a proactive stance. Irene gave us numbers from the federal government, and we're a few days away from a shutdown and all other kind of things. but from a social service component, we've seen child care cuts at the state level. We've seen a vote, not an actual cut, but a vote of the House to drastically reduce nutrition and food stamp assistance. I say all that to say is that federal, state, and local government often works in tandem. But when the feds and the state, because perhaps of priorities and financial shortfalls, we're going to have to have some gaps we're going to plug. We need folks to work in our community. Chris, if you can go to the overhead, please. Council members, you guys don't have this in the packet, but this is a graph of census tracts in our community. and it rates, push it up a little bit for me, Chris, so the council members can see the grid. It rates the poverty level. And we know that poverty numbers are going up nationwide, but you guys kind of see the drift that red is not good, orange is not good, yellow represents 10% and above. You guys may be able to recognize some of your districts. I think the national average of poverty, and Craig, you helped me if I'm right or wrong. We had those numbers in this chamber not long ago. 15, 16, 17 percent somewhere in that range of the population. We need more folks working. I don't know who to turn the chair over to. I'll ask Council Member Ellinger if you'll accept it as the at-large. Certainly. I'll accept the chair, and you'd like to make a motion? I do. Council Member Ford? We need to have this conversation, Council Members, and I'll ask for your support. I move that the committee recommends to the council that we adopt a resolution of intent for Lexington Fayette Irma County government to pursue a designation as a local workforce investment service area. So moved. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Council Member Lawless, is that a second? Well, I'd like to clarify. I don't understand your motion. I need a second first, and then we can have discussion. Okay, I'll second. We have a motion and a second, and now a discussion. Council Member Lawless? I don't understand the motion, but I made a second so that I could have... So, Council Member Lawless, thank you for your gracious second to allow this discussion to go forward. What this basically would do is it will – Lexington right now is part of the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Service area, which is 17 counties, which is the same geographic spread as the Bluegrass Area Development District. What I'm encouraging, and again, my colleagues in the budget link can attest to this, as early as 2011, I've been thinking about how we ought to have our own. Louisville Metro, Jefferson County, is its own workforce investment service area. Louisville is bigger than Lexington. Louisville is 700, 750, 100,000 folks. And my understanding is that at a certain threshold, communities across our country are automatically granted that designation. Lexington is $300,000, and the threshold for automatic designation is 500,000 citizens. However, I think it's still prudent for us to pursue it. And the resolution that I bring forward, I know that the administration is working with the ad on a myriad of issues. There's great reform to be had at Bluegrass Ad. And this is not an attack on Bluegrass Ad. But I serve and you guys, we all collectively and respectfully represent Lexington Fayette County. and the overhead that we show show how many folks live in poverty. It shows how many folks need to be working in our community. And there's just not the governmental resources for us to continue to have band-aids to cure these social safety nets. We're going to need people working. My understanding, Council Member Lawless and Committee, is it will take the consideration and the approval of some folks in Frankfurt to help us make this a fruition if we find it to be in the best interest of Lexington. The State Workforce Investment Board would have to evaluate this. The State Cabinet for Education and Workforce Development will have to bless this as well. I'm certain there's going to be a lot of study and analysis that we will have to do But I ask the council, and I'm thankful for this opportunity to discuss it, but I ask the council to at least go forward with the intent to pursue such a designation. Simply, we need Lexington needs to take its fate in its own hands as far as job training and workforce goes. Council Member Lawless, did you have any further questions for Council Member Ford? Council Member Lane. Thank you. I was just looking at the map, and some of those areas are where there are a lot of college students residing. Some are in areas where there are lower employment levels, maybe lower educational levels. But since that definition of poverty is based on a percentage of our average per household or per capita income, if you have an area where a lot of students reside and some of them live here on a permanent basis, that would bring your averages down. I would be open to evaluating this, but I believe that just to make determination on this one map and the areas that are marked in red, to me, there's not enough information to embark on some type of new program, but I think we should try to do something to get more information so we can make a more careful judgment of where we're going in the future. That's my feedback on it. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Council Member Ford. Thank you. Council Member Lane, you're correct. Again, I want to kind of implore on the committee that this is not a hazard or a knee-jerk reaction. There's plenty of data that can demonstrate we, I think at least need to pursue this. And again, the resolution, what I'm asking for us is just to recommend to the council to adopt a resolution of intent. We have to get the ball started somewhere. The Herald Leader a couple of weeks ago did a special report, community report, on the east end of Lexington. And the statistic I'm going to throw out, to me, is more devastating and more impactful than that graph that sits on the overhead. It indicates that the East End neighborhood in Lexington has an unemployment rate of 20%. 20%, the national average, 7% hovering around. National average for the African American community, 13%, 14%. We have a neighborhood in the east end of Lexington, a growingly more diverse neighborhood, 20% unemployment. That motivates me to bring forth this consideration for a local workforce investment area. That's not to say that the regional, we don't want to be a regional partner. That's not to say that the bluegrass web is not doing what it's supposed to do. What I'm advocating for are the local resources and capacity for us to target neighborhoods such as the East End and other areas that are on this throughout our city. This is not just a District 1 issue. If we think it's important to have Fayette County is working, it's important. Let me throw out another statistic. Council Member Stenet asked Director Gooding this question. This council has not approved a $6 million Section 108 loan for 21C Hotel. We have not approved that. What we have done thus far is we approved the application to be submitted to HUD for that grant. What that grant says is that that developer of that project, we're going to lend that developer $6 million of monies that are guaranteed by our HUD dollar, our sacred HUD dollars, to create 150 jobs. Excuse me, point of order. Council Member Lawless. I'm not sure that we're speaking to the motion at this point. I will rule against that. I think he is, but he has a minute to finish up. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Ellinger. The point that I'm saying is speaking of the resolution is that this is just a resolution of intent to pursue forward. if we don't think it's important to reduce the unemployment rate in the East End and in other high unemployment areas, if we're satisfied, we can table the motion and kick the can down the road. We can vote against the motion. We can turn the blind eye. I would hope we wouldn't do that. But going back to 21C, it shouldn't take $6 million of sacred HUD funds to create 150 entry-level jobs. If we invest in our own workforce and service area, we can capitalize on our investment. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Council Member Scotchfield. Thank you, Chair or Acting Chair. Chris, I don't think any of us are opposed to the idea behind this. I think my big thing is this is I need more information before I can vote in favor of something like this. I mean, obviously, looking at the map, according to this poverty level, you know, my district is right in there. And so definitely I do not oppose the thought behind this. but I cannot support it today without more information supporting it to move it forward. Council Member Ford, would you like to respond to that? I do. Council Member Scutchfield and Committee, you guys, I appreciate the discussion, and I thank you for your support. What I'm going to do is I'm going to withdraw my motion today, and I'm going to pledge to bring back a resolution of intent at our next council committee meeting of social services, if the committee is interested. I don't want to force the committee to make a rush judgment on a vote, but Diane, your second allowed me to express some things for us to consider between now and then. So, withdrawing this motion does not at all minimize how important I think this is. But we need to get moving with this, and I'll draft up a resolution to provide greater information if it will be helpful. With that, I will relinquish the chair. Council Member, I think since you withdrew the motion, I don't think there will be any further discussion at this point. I don't see. And there are some people who would like to talk. Would you like me to go ahead and recognize them, please, sir? Okay. Council Member Myers. Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you, Mr. Chair, for bringing this forward. I support the fact that we need more people working in Lexington. We also need more people creating jobs for people to have in Lexington and good-paying jobs in Lexington. What I would ask, rather than bring back a resolution of intent, let's bring back the Workforce Investment Board representatives and the other folks that we need to actually come up with something concrete that we want to do rather than just a resolution of intent. And so I would request that during the next meeting or even in between that time, you bring Workforce Investment Board and the folks that we need to bring to the table to actually look at what this committee wants to push forward instead of a resolution of intent, an actual action plan of doing something and implementing something that can take us all where we want to go. Thank you. Council Member Ford, did you want to respond? I can respond if I can. Yes, sir. This is what committee work is for. Council Member Myers, my only response to that and my take on that is we've invited and we've been very gracious to the Workforce Investment Board. They serve a purpose. And I want to be clear is two things. Personally, I don't think that we actually have time for all the reforms that are going to be needed at the Bluegrass Area Development District. And we should not confuse that there is a very, it's almost an identical relationship between the Bluegrass Workforce Investment Board and the Bluegrass Area Development District. They are in the midst of what's going to perhaps be a very scathing audit by the state auditor. and 20% unemployment in the East End is decade over decade. We've heard what the WIB can do. We perhaps can continue to work with them, but I think we need dedicated Fed County strategies of which we haven't had in low-income and African-American communities since the closing of the Mayor's Training Center and micro-city government. So that's my initial reaction to that. I think it's prudent for us to have our own strategy. Council Member Myers. Thank you, sir. I agree with you that we need our own strategy. I think if the WIB was here, they would argue that they are separate from the ADD, and in fact they're part of the reason why the ADD is being investigated because of some things they brought forward. So I'm less inclined to necessarily work with the ADD on this, but very inclined to work with the Workforce Investment Board. I agree, though, that we need our own strategy, but I think that they have resources that we can bring to bear on this issue. And so, again, my hope is that rather than bringing a concept forward or a resolution of intent, that we have something that we intend to actually implement and that we focus on that. We focus our energies on what is the solution that we want to bring to bear on what we all know is a real issue in our community. And so I look forward to working with you in that regard and trying to come up with a solution and then moving that solution forward. Council Member Beard. Thank you. Who's on first? There are so many people and so many groups playing the same game to one extent or another that it becomes a log jam. And somehow or other, we've got to get the groups down to one or two, in my opinion, so that they can be more productive and aren't going in 15 different directions. I was involved in the ad pretty much pushed the closing of the mayor's training center. And there was plenty of good things that was happening over there. Now, I don't know whether it was as cost effective as it needed to be, but there are ways to address that without just shutting it down. And I think everybody is pretty much singing out of the same hymnal, but they're not all on the same page. Thank you. Any further discussion on this issue? Council Member Ford. Thank you. Council Member Beard, I thank you for your sentiments on that. I wholeheartedly agree. Speaking just briefly to the Mayor's Training Center closing, whatever motivations or whatever reasons that it did close. It's closed now, and it's 2013. But what we know subsequent to its closing is that Lexington hasn't been immune to perhaps the worst economic downturn in the last half century. And the folks who accessed in times past the Mayor's Training Center and its services have suffered. I agree with Council Member Beard to this point as well. We don't have one point of contact in local government that deals with this issue and this issue alone, workforce training and job training and development, that could perhaps be a liaison and help coordinate with the folks in the community that do this. I know that the administration is working, And I don't know if CAO Hamilton wants to just chime in briefly if she cares. I know that the administration, Kevin Atkins, is working with the ad. But one thing I would say in closing of our consideration in the next few weeks of a resolution is it would actually offer the administration and all external stakeholders more directive of what we're looking to do in the future as far as this issue goes. And again, you have to, in comparison to 21C, and we do this with a lot of grant applications, we pass a resolution to submit the grant, to pursue the project. and then we take another after consideration and rightful study, then if we agree with it, if we like the terms of things, we can actually push the button and go forward. Council members, thank you guys for your discussion. I'll report back next month. Thank you. Seeing nobody else on the list, I will relinquish the chair back to you, Council member. Thank you. Page 19 is items in committee. Are there any questions about items in committee? I do want to recognize just briefly in the rear of the room we have Mr. Malcolm Rashford, the new executive director of the Community Action Council. Committee members, if it's okay, I've asked Malcolm to join us next month at our committee to introduce himself and his vision for the agency. so thank you for being here. Is there a motion to adjourn? There's been a motion and adjourn. We stand adjourned. Thank you.