During the four months as a councilman for the 4th Ward city business has been to support city departments in performing their duties.
Additionally, there were two issues of importance deserving a council vote. A vote to seat 2nd Ward Councilwoman Laura Ward was required to replace Councilman Schulte who moved to another ward.
Next was my resolution promoting Fire Captain Matt Schofield to fire chief. He was unanimously recommended by a selection committee initiated by the city administrator. Adding the resolution to the full council's agenda required a second from another councilperson. There was no second and the resolution was blocked from further consideration.
In the immediate future action will be necessary on two major issues. First, the city administrator will have to come before the council with a recommendation for the fire chief position to either appoint Captain Schofield as fire chief or to conduct an external search. Second, after the state legislative veto session the mayor will present his proposed budget to the City Council for consideration and approval. This must be accomplished before the first of November.
I was assigned to the Public Works and Planning Committee and the Administration Committee. In the former, no new major projects have surfaced. The Lafayette interchange project, a state, county and city collaborative effort is moving forward and is scheduled to take about two years to complete. This project will cause hardship on those driving in the vicinity of the on-going project. Be alert as numerous detours will occur over the life of the project.
While the price for road salt has increased about 40 percent, we were able to allocate additional funds to purchase road salt for this winter.
In the Administration Committee, my suggestion program (where any citizen submitting a suggestion that is adopted would receive 20 percent of the city's first year savings with cap of $10,000 per idea) was defeated by a 4-1 vote.
For those living in the 4th Ward, I have begun a "Fourth Ward Citizen of the Month" program. If you know of someone who does an act of citizenship, send a short email to [email protected] identifying the person, what they did and your contact information. Each month, the winner will receive at least $70 cash and gift cards from businesses in the 4th Ward. No city funds will be used to finance this program.
So, all the citizens of Jefferson City should look around and see how we can make the city a better place to live, work and raise a family. The city has funding being collected via the lodging tax. How should you like to see that money spent? Contact your councilperson with your suggestion, do not sit back and let a handful of folks decide where and how that money will be spent. The city will be soliciting public comment in advance of developing a scope of services for a new solid waste contract. The public is invited and encouraged to provide input from 4-7 p.m. on Sept. 9 and 16 at City Hall. Get involved.