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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, February 23, 2009 Page 2 4. Council Communications, Reports, Announcements and Housing and Redevelop- ment Authority Report Mayor Klausing announced that the Twin Lakes Streetscape Open House was scheduled at City Hall on Thursday, February 26, 2009 from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., and invited the pub- lic to attend to share their thoughts on the proposed design. Mayor Klausing, on a personal note, extended his thanks to Councilmember Roe for stepping in as Acting Mayor at the February 9, 2009 City Council meeting during his ab- sence. Councilmember Pust .briefly reported on the successful, 13a' Annual Home and Garden Fair, with its newly-branded emphasis on "living green, living smarter;" and thanked the great sponsors of this year's event. Councilmember Pust thanked City staff for their work on putting the event together and handling the logistics; and reported that, in keep- ing with the philosophy of this year's Fair, and the Housing and Redevelopment Author- ity's (HRA) interest in pushing ways for the community to be more sustainable, noted that the event was kept at close to zero waste, due to concentrated efforts at composting and recycling. Councilmember Roe reminded citizens that Friday, February 27, 2009 was the deadline for applying for vacancies on City Advisory Commissions; noted that there were numer- ous vacancies; and encouraged interested citizens to apply via obtaining an application on the City's website or at City Hall. 5. Recognitions, Donations, Communications a. Award Human Rights Commission Essay Contest Winners Mayor Klausing introduced the annual Human Rights Commission Essay Contest event and welcomed Human Rights Commission (HRC) Chairperson David Sin- gleton and HRC Commissioner Tam McGehee to introduce this year's winners. Commissioner McGehee briefed Councilmembers and the public on the differ- ences in this year's essay contest format, allowing students to pick their own. topic from current events, giving students more freedom, but greater challenges for them to substantiate their area of interest. Commissioner McGehee opined that the resources used by students were greatly improved and their writing more pro- fessionallypresented, making their essays more difficult to judge given their clear enthusiasm for their chosen subjects. Commissioner McGehee noted the out- standing set of essays presented and thanked the 240 students submitting essays on an impressive range of topics, and thanked the teachers for their support. Mayor Klausing clarified that the First, Second and Third Place winners would be reading their essays at tonight's meeting.