Agenda - 09-06-2016 - 6-a - Minutes

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8 1 Commissioner Dorosin said he suggested a proposal to broadly fund these agencies, 2 and clarified what he is proposing. He said the Board recognizes the work that these non-profit 3 agencies do in the community, and the Board discussed last year about raising the amount of 4 funding for outside agencies. He said the difference between the agencies requests and the 5 Manager's recommended budgets for those agencies is about $108,000, less $22,000 for 6 Housing for New Hope. He suggested as a show of a united front, that the Board allocates the 7 full amount to all of the agencies, for which the Manager recommended funding. 8 Commissioner Rich asked if the $16,000 for the Food Council is in a particular pot at 9 this point. 10 Bonnie Hammersley said it is included as part of Commissioner Dorosin's proposal. 11 Paul Laughton said the difference is $94,953 of what was requested for those that 12 received funding in 2015-2016. He said if the $22,000 for Housing for New Hope is removed, 13 and the $16,030 for the Food Council added back in, the total is $88,483. 14 Commissioner Dorosin said this would fully fund all agencies in line item number 1, all of 15 which were Manager recommended for some funding. 16 Commissioner Rich said some of these would be really big jumps in funding and asked 17 if the Board is willing to go that far 18 Commissioner Dorosin said yes, since this is an extraordinary time for these non-profits 19 with the legislature. He said he is not recommending a policy change with the outside 20 agencies. 21 Commissioner Burroughs said she liked this proposal and suggested bringing back this 22 discussion of increasing the amount of funding for outside agencies. She said these are the 23 people she works with, and though she understands Commissioner Dorosin's rationale, she 24 would prefer just funding the Manager's recommendations as of now. She said the applications 25 were reviewed and funding decisions were made for a reason, and with careful thought. 26 Commissioner Price echoed Commissioner Rich's point that fully funding some of these 27 agencies would require a large jump from the Manager's recommended amount. She also 28 echoed Commissioner Burroughs' point of respecting the decision making process thus far. 29 Commissioner Jacobs said he is sympathetic to Commissioner Dorosin's proposal, but 30 the Board should agree not to raise any recommended funded agency more than 50% of its 31 request. He said that may make other Board members more comfortable and also honor the 32 process and the staff's work. 33 Commissioner Dorosin said that may be the way to proceed. He said the primary 34 reason these agencies do not get full funding is because there is a limited pot of funding. 35 He said if there is not support for his proposal, then he would defer to Commissioner Jacobs' 36 proposal. 37 Commissioner Pelissier appreciated Commissioner Dorosin's sentiment behind his 38 proposal, but the other major thing to her is that departments submitted requests, as well as 39 agencies and schools, and the staff and Commissioners must prioritize. She does not like 40 supporting a blanket proposal and preferred going through each one. 41 Commissioner Dorosin said that is inconsistent. He said if the point is to respect the 42 process, he can accept that; and if the point is that Commissioners want to pick numbers based 43 on their own knowledge or preference, he can respect that. He said all these agencies have 44 been recommended for funding, which means they have shown a level of merit. He said he 45 feels the primary reason agencies may not have been funded is a lack of money, and he 46 believes there is enough money. 47 Commissioner Pelissier said she does not think this is the reviewer's perspective, but 48 rather the reviewer considers the agency, its work and purpose, and an appropriate amount to 49 fund. 50 Commissioner Burroughs said she liked Commissioner Jacobs' compromise.