Minutes 03/28/2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 28, 2000 At a Called Meeting of the City Council on Tuesday, March 28, 2000, there were present: Mayor James W. Holley III, Vice Mayor Bernard D. Griffin, Sr., Cameron C. Pitts, P. Ward Robinett, Jr., J. Thomas Benn III, William E. Moody, Jr., Charles B. Whitehurst, Sr., City Manager Ronald W. Massie, City Attorney G. Timothy Oksman. 00 - 60 - The following call for the meeting was read: "Please attend a Called Meeting of the City Council to be held in the City Council Chamber, 801 Crawford Street, 6th floor, 5:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 28, 2000, for the purpose of a Public Work Session. In addition, you may consider a motion to go into a Closed Meeting. By order of the Mayor." 00 - 61 - The following items were discussed in Public Work Session: 1. Budget Presentation "1 am pleased to present to you the proposed operating budget for fiscal year 2001. If I were asked to use a single term to describe this budget, it would be "continuity." In this budget you will see the continuation of budget themes from the past two years, of priorities that have been discussed in the Mayor's State of the City addresses, and of initiatives that have been worked extensively over the past four years in a series of semi-annual Council retreats. The City Council has provided continual leadership and has articulated a firm vision of what they desire for our City. The City's management team is continuously working to make this vision a reality by implementing operational strategies, structures and systems to provide the quality services valued by our citizens. This budget serves as the tool for continuing the process of translating our visions and goals into dollars and cents. FOCUSED ON THE FUTURE "Focused on the future" was the theme of the February 2000 City Council retreat. I believe the City of Portsmouth is indeed focused on the future and poised to continue the momentum of progress we are currently experiencing. This progress has been achieved through the strong leadership of this City Figure1: Spheres of Success Council and through the concentration of efforts on the priorities established by Council: economic E ..... ic development, neighborhood quality and fiscal strength. Deve,o,.~e., These priorities, referred to as our "Spheres of Success" [Figure 1] were again validated at the F,~,, Council's February retreat where discussions centered s,re.~,h on our specific strategies for success in each of these areas. The budgets that are approved each spring, the Operating, Capital Improvement and Community Development Block Grant, are the vehicles by which these strategies are brought into reality and where our funding decisions must be balanced within available resources. As our needs continue to outweigh our resources, the challenge within each of these budgets is to see our highest priorities and goals achieved before shifting our focus in new directions. The recommendations included in this budget are designed to achieve our stated goals.