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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,August 08,2011 <br /> Page 33 <br /> Given the hour, Mayor Roe asked that City Manager Malinen reschedule the City <br /> Council's Q and A session with Department Heads for the August 22, 2011 regu- <br /> lar business meeting. <br /> Councilmember Willmus noted that, two weeks ago, he had inquired about the <br /> availability of a greater level of budget detail, and was told by staff that it didn't <br /> exist; and expressed his frustration that a member of the public had come forward <br /> showing him something considerably different than provided by staff to-date. <br /> Councilmember Willmus advised that this was the type of information he was <br /> looking for; and would like staff to provide the information accordingly. <br /> Councilmember McGehee concurred with Councilmember Willmus' request; and <br /> opined that she didn't think it was a problem with staff, but rather one of man- <br /> agement. Councilmember McGehee opined that she had several issues with this: <br /> the City Council was not getting the information they needed; and the City Man- <br /> ager was not looking outside the box for shared resource opportunities. Council- <br /> member McGehee opined that no bids for such shared resources were being <br /> brought forward to the City Council; or other options for funding things the com- <br /> munity wanted or ways to make the budget process better. Councilmember <br /> McGehee opined that she was very irritated with this budget process to-date. <br /> Mayor Roe advised that the budget discussion would continue at future meetings. <br /> Councilmember Pust questioned how Mayor Roe would like individual Council- <br /> members to ask questions or staff on the documents they had provided. <br /> Mayor Roe asked if Councilmembers had found the most recent information pro- <br /> vided by staff helpful (Attachments A and B) as broken down by program, with <br /> actual for each programs in broader terms for 2008, 2009 and 2010; and whether <br /> that information was adequate. <br /> Councilmember Pust opined that she would not deem information previously pro- <br /> vided to be inadequate; but noted that the detailed attachments were not those cat- <br /> egories she dealt with, and while previously provided, she didn't retain the infor- <br /> mation; and needed it defined for her again; and directed her questions to Mr. <br /> Miller accordingly as she would continue to do during this budget cycle. <br /> Mayor Roe noted again his frustration in not having had discussions with staff <br /> earlier on in the process; making this first public comment session lacking in suf- <br /> ficient detail. <br /> Councilmember Pust questioned how the budget process could be amended to be <br /> more effective. <br />