Minutes 03-03-2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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position as an elected official to be responsible to make that decision regardless of the comfort level or the re-election potential. He feels the concentration should be on the schools, and he thinks a decision on whether to place this on the 2016 ballot should wait until they get information from the schools. Commissioner porosin said the schools will take as much as they can get. He agrees that if there are 4 votes to create a bond only for schools then that vote should be taken and the committee should be told. He said if the will of this Board is to only do a bond for schools and affordable housing then there is no need for a task force. Commissioner porosin said even with a citizens' committee the Board will not necessarily hear from the whole County. He said it is an insider's game, and the task force will be made up of people who are interested. He said the point of a bond is to get the public to make decisions as to what they want the Board of County Commissioners to support. He said some general categories can be set, and then the Board can see what other ideas bloom. He said this is a good way to take the temperature of the community. Commissioner Jacobs said his comments were along similar lines. He said if people have already made up their minds, then there is no point to impanel a group of citizens. He thinks the Board should listen to the community. He said the Board can certainly tell the public upfront what percentage of the money will go to schools, but he wants to hear what the community thinks. He suggested an invitation for public comment on the bond topics. Commissioner Burroughs said the schools will take as much money as they are given, because the needs are so great. She said the schools know how to stretch a dime to make the buildings better for the children and the staff. Commissioner Burroughs said she has expressed a real interest in affordable housing, and she is interested in a task force to determine the optimal way to spend this money. She said you can think about a task force as a way of defining goals within a specific subject area. Commissioner Rich said a task force has more than one job. She said part of this is to help identify what goes on the bond, and the other part is helping educate the public about the bond. She said if the bond is only going to be for schools then that vote should be taken now. Commissioner Pelissier said she does not agree that if you limit the topics there is no need for a task force. She said even if it were just schools, there are still decisions about priorities and the allocation of the resources. She said affordable housing encompasses a lot of different needs, and there are a lot of things here that could be discussed and prioritized. Chair McKee said with this bond issuance, he is supportive of schools and affordable housing. He said that does not mean that other items cannot be funded through regular financing. He noted that this is what Chapel Hill is proposing. He said there is no need to limit items just because they are not on a bond. He said just because a bond is passed, it does not mean that the public is supportive of the item. He is not expecting full buy-in, and he is prepared for this. Commissioner Jacobs said he would be perfectly comfortable doing what Chapel Hill did with the use of bond and private financing. He said a statement can be made to reflect these intentions, and the public can still be asked to speak into it. He would like to see all of these options on the table at the same time. He said the schools could probably tell you how that money could be spent, but for some of the other issues, people could provide discussion. He said the suggestion based on Chapel Hill's approach may be the best approach. Chair McKee said the absolute priorities can be determined and included in the bond, and then the other priorities can be done in staged intervals. Commissioner Pelissier said when she said she would like to limit the topics for the bond referendum, she also presumed all along that the Board has their CIP and would fund topics accordingly. She said this discussion points to the need to find a different way to