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Columbia City Council meets April 16, 2008
Welcome Council member Kirkman Finlay III announced he was pleased at the turnout in his District IV meeting. Council meets once a quarter in one of the districts instead of City Hall. Also, the meetings are in the evening instead of the morning. Business recognition Tony Lawton, director of the Office of Business Opportunities, recognized Homeowners Mortgage as the city's Business Spotlight Program Honoree for April 2008. In 2007, Homeowners Mortgage was titled the #1 State Housing Lender and was also recognized as experts by Fannie Mae in bringing innovative mortgage programs to the market. Going Green Melissa Smith Gentry, director of the city's Public Works, announced another 14 companies were being honored as Green Business members for 2008. Sidewalks
Brownfields Fred Delk, director of the Columbia Development Corporation, reviewed the process in identifying brownfield sites and bringing them up to standards for development. North Main Devine pushed for approval of the redevelopment plan and the implementation of a municipal improvement district in near North Main. Council concurred. Finlay, however, did express concerns over costs and long- term indebtedness, particularly the appearance of rising debt ratios. Community Development City Manager Charles Austin announced the selection of Tony Lawton as the city's new director of Community Development. City Manager's report Austin announced the books from fiscal year 2005- 06 were in order and were being put on the Financial Department's Web page. The attempt to collect past- due accounts will be undertaken by an outsourced firm once the selection is made among the respondents to the request for proposals. The city's corrective action in response to Justice Finney's committee's conclusion on the Police Department is under way. The city's Language Line service kicks in by April 28 with 150 languages in its translation capabilities. The projected budget for fiscal year 2008- 09 is in balance, targeting almost $110,000,000, an increase of 5.1%. There will be a public hearing on the new budget on June 4.
Judge Mildred McDuffie shared her committee's recommendation not to fund the Competitive Cheerleading project as proposed by Cheers R Us. They asked for $2,000 and they got zip, according to Judge McDuffie. Public hearing State NAACP executive Lonnie Randolph suggested race was still very much part of the political campaign process due mostly to past bigotries. Current bigotries are down, but the past is always with us, said Randolph. His job depends on it. Explosive disclosures City employee Hubbard Forrester, who works in the Parks and Recreation Department, asked for a statue on the Statehouse grounds to glorify Jesus. Then he complained of police participation in Columbia's illicit drug trade, but he also said he could prove it. And, finally, Forrester concluded, as he stood before council and the public, recording his words through the microphone and the television cameras that his superior and department head, Allison Baker, assistant city manager, was guilty of illegal hiring practices and relationships among his subordinates. For the next few seconds, the room sat stunned and silent.
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