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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,June 15,2015 Page 15 concern with the current Executive Director, but only in not having any input; and suggested creation of an HRA Executive Committee to periodically meet with the City Manager to address that role moving forward. Chair Maschka opined that the HRA had done and could continue to do a lot of good things; however the last six months and holding pattern had proven frustrat- ing to all; and again asked the City Council's desire for the future of the HRA. Councilmember Willmus sought clarification from Chair Maschka on what he meant by the"full powers"of the HRA. Chair Maschka stated this may involve bonding authority and/or using their full levy authority to effectively pursue the best interests of the community. However, Chair Maschka noted budget cuts by the City Council frequently squelched those programming efforts. Also, in clear areas where the HRA may find situations whether bonding was determined as the best option, Chair Maschka sought whether or not the City Council was comfortable with them pursuing it. From his personal perspective, Councilmember Willmus opined that he felt it was the function of the elected body to take on, hold and/or own issuing of debt. Specific to the Dale Street Project and Greater Minnesota Housing Corporation (GMHC) redevelopment project, Councilmember Willmus noted his personal ob- servation at HRA meetings, and his perception of a clear lack of firm direction from the HRA on some of those issues. Based on contractual language, actual events, and the GMHC's desire to continue with their proposed project, Coun- cilmember Willmus noted the HRA's apparent desire to walk away from the pro- ject prematurely in his opinion. Councilmember Willmus suggested this may not have been the entire fault of the HRA, as he didn't think they had all the infor- mation in front of them that they needed or that was subsequently provided to the City Council. However, if the HRA felt it had been stepped on by the City Coun- cil taking over, Councilmember Willmus opined that was too bad; and stated his desire to not see the project jeopardized by issues when he observed the lack of professional leadership being provided by those under contract with the HRA. However, Councilmember Willmus further opined that this shouldn't have oc- curred, and he didn't want to see the project lost as a result of those advisors not effectively facilitating and guiding the process and information. Councilmember Willmus explained that this was why the HRA saw the City Council step in at that point to straighten out versus losing this development opportunity. Chair Maschka thanked Councilmember Willmus for his more detailed explana- tion. Mayor Roe suggested this tied into the role of the HRA and staffing its Executive Director and whether development expertise on the HRA staff could be further