City Council Special Meeting/Work Session

Stacy HallThank you, Whitney Houston. but I do just think that this is something that nearly 70 percent of our residents said they wanted and I would actually be very curious to see if we put some of these other projects on a ballot what their approval rating would be because I think that we have if you look at the CIP I think there's been a number of projects that have been added on in recent years that it seems like we don't know where the money is going to be coming from but we just put them this five-year plan and hope that somehow they're going to happen and as far as I'm concerned the other projects that have been mentioned the property yard I understand there are concerns there there are restrictions there are problems the fire station the Willard Sherwood Center the

police garage to me personally those things are not as important as supporting our schools and making sure that we get this renovation right and also by making sure that our ridiculously old at the high school is actually fixed hopefully once and for all for at least the next 20 or 30 years I would like to just ask mr. Martinez for some clarification from you you had said the 10 cents for the next five years my understanding about the Willard Sherwood specifically was that on its own that building was about eight to nine cents once we are moving forward or if we move forward with that so I'm just curious how that factors into the other 10 cents that you were mentioning so

JC Martinezstaffwould be from Willard Sherwood as a standalone project. The property yard is another 60-some-odd million dollars, along with the fire station, so they start adding up relatively quick.

Catherine Readand if it passes, it's the FY28 budget. Well, that budget will be decided by the people sitting on this dais who will take office in 486 days. So prior to that, this dais will decide the next budget, and we will decide what our obligations are to this referendum. But it will be a different dais, maybe some of the same people, maybe not, who will look at the 28 budget. And if there is a 1%, it changes everything dramatically. making cuts to things like the Willard Sherwood Center, which is a long-term collaboration with the county in which we have already invested a tremendous amount of money when we don't know whether or not we're going to get the 1%, but to torpedo a long-term project in which we have not just an investment

but a commitment in order to make a commitment to the schools when we do not know whether a lot of money will be coming to us in 28 that solves a lot of this problem to me is not good governance. obligations in our CIP that we have made and it is a way there is a way to do two things at once and it's just important to have the Willard Sherwood Center for other residents of this city for instance the seniors who want the senior center there as it is to make sure we have a commitment to the schools so I would ask everyone to keep in mind this dais will decide the next budget in 20 2027 but there's every possibility that a new governor and we will know that in about a hundred days will make the difference and then we will know the