Minutes - 20080529 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Commissioner Gordon asked for a line item detail on the budget and Laura Blackmon said that it will be delivered on Monday evening. Chair Jacobs asked about the information on the reduction of services that will be brought forward on June 5th and asked Laura Blackmon for the priority services that would be cut per cent of the tax rate. Laura Blackmon said that she was going to list programs and she can categorize them as non-core programs, deletion of a position that was attached to a program, or if it was a grant program. Commissioner Gordon asked the Manager if she would have priorities with the Manager's recommendation for elimination and Laura Blackmon said that she has not developed them as priorities yet, but she and the staff could do this. 3. Public Comment Mark Peters said that he is speaking on behalf of the CHCCS PTA Council. Last year hundreds of parents spoke to the County Commissioners about what could have been a devastating loss of teachers in both districts if the original proposed budget had been adopted. He thanked the County Commissioners for what was done last year. He said that this year parents have little reason to show up. He encouraged the County Commissioners to adopt the Manager's recommendation and the schools' requested budget. He said that the PTA Council did not take a position on the transfer tax, and some parents were interested, but could not fight the real estate industry group that basically bought the referendum for a quarter of a million dollars. Kirsten Barker is a parent of children at Carrboro Elementary. She received a letter in her child's backpack the other day that the CHCCS Board was requesting an increase of$6.8 million and that the County Manager recommended an increase of$5.3 million. The letter went on to say that the $1.5 million shortfall was a reasonable recommendation and that the district could do its part to reduce the amount without having a detrimental impact on the students. She understands that the County Commissioners are now suggesting that the County Manager's budget recommendation be cut further and that the schools figure out how to operate with even less. She said that within a mile of her home, there are three new developments underway, which will create 240 new single-family homes and 86 town homes. Secondly, she works part- time and also volunteers in the school. She sees the needs of the schools first hand and she helps fill the gaps, but the gap of$1.5 million is too much to fill. She asked the Board to support the school board's request. She said that she is here on behalf of every child and not just a certain group of children. Molly Dougherty is a member of the Orange County Public Health Service Reserve Corps Community Emergency Response Team. She became a member three years ago. She asked the Board to support the Volunteer Coordinator position for this team. The volunteer corps is prepared to help the community in emergencies. The corps also helps with ongoing health events such as flu clinics and wellness screening. Chris Harlan, Chair of the Board of Health, said that she was pleased to see the third line under"Guiding Principles" regarding assuring a safe and healthy community. She spoke about a refugee health program with the Health Department. She said that the community and the health department are experiencing an increase in refugees through the federal government's refugee program. These refugees are primarily coming from Niomar or Burma and it is anticipated that more refugees may be coming into Orange County. Historically, the Health Department processes six to ten refugees each year. Since last July, it has seen more than 230 refugees and anticipates another 40 arriving in June. Every arriving refugee is required to have a communicable disease screening with the local health department within 30 days of arrival. Because of this huge increase, staffing levels do not adequately allow for the screening to take place within the required 30-day time period. She said that because it is a