this special meeting. I will  call this meeting to order.   May we please stand for the pledge of allegiance of America to the stands one nationy and justice for all. Thank you. After receiving new information on Friday from  the election office that the special election   will cost more and locations will be changed  for approximately 26,000 voters. I called this   special meeting to have a discussion and a vote  to potentially delay the special election to   the August 4th primary. First, it's important  for the community to hear from the election   commissioner on the information we received on  Friday. Second, we have a workshop scheduled to   discuss guard rails on January 27th. I will  ask law to please share what guard rails are   currently in the ordinance and any progress  on proposed guard rails. Then we'll open it   for public comment so the community can share  their feedback on a potential delay in the   special election and any suggestions for guard  rails on this proposal. In the interest of time,   and I see that there are many of you here, we  would like to ask everyone to have the chance   to speak by having public comment limited to  three minutes each. After public comment, law   I would like you to please explain the nature  of today's vote and how it can be considered as   a final action. Madame clerk, please call  the item. Repeal of city ordinance 52-866   and consideration of an ordinance of the  city of Witchah, Kansas for the purpose of   submitting to qualified electors of the city of  Witchah the question relating to the imposition   of a 1% citywide retailer sales tax and placing a  question on the August 4th, 2026 election ballot. Sharon Dick, City Law Department. Um Laura  Rainwater is here and has a another commitment   this afternoon. So, if we could take her out  of order. Um she's here to talk about generally   why the change was made um regarding the polling  places for the March 3rd uh election as well as   the potential costs for having the election on  March 3rd versus at the primary on August 4th. Good afternoon, mayor, vice mayor, city  council members. I am Laura Rainwater,   your Sedwick County Election Commissioner. Thank  you for inviting me here to briefly explain   uh the election administration timeline for the  March 3rd election. The election office was asked   in mid November by the city's legal department  about the cost to hold a special election in   March. There are approximately 253,000 registered  eligible voters within the city of Witchah. At the   time of the request, we knew of approximately 500  voters who vote in four different polling places   in surrounding communities that we we would  need to temporarily move due to efficiencies   of election operations and the cost of opening  those sites for a minimal amount of voters. It   costs approximately $1,200 per site to open on  election day and less than $500 total to move   those voters to a temporary site for this  election. So, the total estimate given at   that time back in November was approximately  $150,000. We officially received notice of the   city's special election on December 16th. The  following week, we began contacting about 70   polling sites to see if they were available for  the March 3rd election. What we weren't expecting   was having to temporarily move another 25,500  voters. That's just over 10% of eligible voters.   This is a very high number. To give a comparison,  for the USD 259 special election last February,   which had approximately 200,000 voters, we had  to move over just over 10,000 voters, which   was approximately 5% to a temporary location. We  contract with polling sites approximately a year   in advance for the primary and general election.  The contracts do not include special elections.   I want to thank all of our polling sites, those  that were able to host in March and those that   were not. The sacrifices they make for the August  and November elections are huge. They do it for   minimal compensation and out of service to our  community. We truly appreciate all they do to make   our elections accessible accessible to all our  community. for the March 3rd election. One site,   Westlink Christian Church, has been sold and  will no longer be a host site. Another site,   Heart of Christ Church, we had to make a difficult  decision to move voters because of ongoing   maintenance issues at that site that kept it from  opening at all last year. So, that leaves us with   the other five locations. They told us last week  that they have events scheduled that prevent them   from being a host on March 3rd. By law, we must  send notices of the temporary change by US mail   to every impacted voter. The cost to send these  notices increased the cost of this election by   approximately $20,000. So far, we have incured  no direct election expenses for the March 3rd   election. By law, we are not allowed to charge  for staff time that has been involved thus far.   Pallets and envelopes were supposed to be  ordered yesterday and the notice of election   uh publication is scheduled for next week. So  those expenses have not been incured because   I put everything on pause until after this  meeting. If you were to cancel this election,   there would be no cost to the city. If you  move this election to the August primary or   the November general, there will also be no cost  to the city as it is a countywide election. Again,   I want to thank you for inviting me here  today. I'm happy to stand for any questions. Council member Hohheisel. Thank you, Mayor. Did  you receive any feedback from any voters that had   to move in the last um spring election? We always  get feedback when voters get moved. We do not   like to have to move voters to temporary polling  locations. It confuses them. We do put signs in   um up on the doors of all closed polling  sites. We did it for the 259 election   um and the other special elections that  we had last year alerting voters, hey,   this location is not open. Here is where you need  to go. But yes, we get complaints every election.   And that is why I sent the email to all of you as  well as our county commissioners alerting them,   you're going to get phone calls. There's 26,000  voters that have to be moved for this election.   Is there do you have any metric as as to how  many people called and complained for that? Is   that something that get that for you. Um, we  keep track of all of the calls that come in,   but I can get that to you. I don't have  it with me today. Okay. Thank you. Uhhuh. Comm. We have questions from Council Member  Sheepard. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Laura,   for being here today and for the work that you do.  Um, I've had the opportunity to be a poll agent,   and I know that it's a very rewarding experience.  Um you mentioned that there are some polls that   are um being impacted due to maintenance on  facilities and or events that are scheduled   on the same day as the special election as it is  right now. Um are you able to project out in the   if we were to move this to August if you would  encounter some of the same situations? No, we   would not. Um voters would vote at their assigned  polling places. We've already contracted with all   of our polling sites. There's over a hundred for  both the primary and general elections. Those are   countywide elections. Um so every voter will be  voting. The unaffiliated voters for the primary   will have will create a different ballot style.  So their ballot will only have if you were to   move this to August would only have the sales  tax question on it. Does that make sense? Yes,   it does make sense. What's the plan to communicate  with those who are unaffiliated with a party that   they would still be eligible to show up in that  a August election considering that typically it's   partisan. I know that there's a judicial question  also on that August ballot as well. You would then   factor in a sales tax question that every citizen  in the city of Witchaw limits would be eligible   for. Do you have a plan on what's the marketing  and or communication to educate voters on that?   Absolutely. we we get out there in the media as  well as social media because every voter will   be voting in this primary because you brought up a  good point. There is a constitutional amendment on   this ballot um come August. So that will also open  it up to every single voter in Seduitick County in   August. Thanks for bringing that up. Good point.  Council member Glasco. Thank you. Quick question.   How many items are we expecting? Obviously, the  state legislature could change that where we   would have more maybe ballot questions depending  on what happens this legislative session. How many   items are we expecting on the August ballot  as it stands now before the legislature adds   further questions? Well, it would just right now  we know of the one constitutional amendment total   all elections races. Oh, all of your state  representatives, state uh state offices. So,   we're looking on a typical ballot, five, 10,  15. How many state representatives are there   that represent Sedwick County? I don't  know off the top of my head. 20 close,   give or take a few. So, um, those races will be  on the ballot on a particular ballot though. So,   varies by election. Okay. But we don't  have a set number for that yet. No,   I can get that for you. That would be helpful.  Yep. Can I go back to the August question? Um   because we do have a lot of independent voters or  non-affiliated voters, about a third of the county   registered voters. So because there's already  going to be a constitutional ballot question,   was there going to be communication, extra  communication to those independent voters? I'm   sure there'll be a lot of uh information coming  out between now and August getting the word out   that there is a constitutional amendment  on the ballot for all voters to vote on.   Um, so I'm sure that'll come down from both  parties. Um, everybody's eligible come August. Thank you, Council Member Shepard. Thank you,  Mayor. So, I just want to clarify because   because I mentioned this yesterday. This is a  major concern for me. Does the county have any   plan to educate voters or to spend any dollars on  communication to independent and or unaffiliated   voters that they would be eligible to participate  on the August ballot for two particular questions,   one being a sales tax and another being the  referendum regarding the judicial process. I   did have um some constituents reach out and share  uh that maybe perhaps they don't care about the   judicial referendum. I would not encourage that.  I encourage them to pay very close attention to   that. But is there a plan? So, we don't have an  advertising budget. Um, but we do I'm all about   voter education, as you know. Um, we are always  out in the community. We are always on the news,   um, all three stations, social media. We play a  big presence on getting the word out. It's very   important. I am a firm believer that you should  vote in every election you are eligible to vote   in. Um, so yeah, there will be lots of publicity  leading up to August. But my understanding from   you is that we were we are relying on outside  resources to do that. Okay. I have a question,   mayor, for the city manager. That's  okay with you. City manager. Um,   given that the and I know that we've discussed  this before prior to my time on council,   but for those who are here, I think it's  important. Where is that $170,000 coming   from? We actually have it identified in the  city manager's budget is my understanding. So,   it's been identified for funding in the  current fiscal year that started January 1st. Okay. No other questions? Again,  thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Just a little background as to how we got  here. Maybe I'm not advancing for some reason. Uh as background in December, the city  council approved an ordinance calling for   a special sales tax. Um it was to approve  a 1% retailer sales tax. um state statutes   limit sales tax or special elections to occur  um at three particular elections. There used   to be more flexibility in that. Uh recently  in 2022, uh the state statutes were amended   um to limit those elections to occur at a  general a primary um or elections held on   the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March.  Um the election or the ballot called for a number   of specific purposes. Uh to provide funding  for public safety, homelessness and housing,   uh re revitalization of Century 2 and convention  center improvements, property tax release,   and the development and construction of  a new downtown public performing arts.   The applicable statutes when passing a  sales tax state law provides at the ballot   um for a special purpose election must specify the  purpose or purposes for which the revenue may be   used. Revenue can only be used for the purposes  as specified in the ballot. Um again the ballot   language divides up the sales tax into a number  of we've been referring to them as buckets.   um an amount not to exceed $225 million for public  safety costs for the construction and maintenance   of facilities, acquisition of vehicles, apparatus,  and equipment. Uh amount not to exceed $250   million for costs for re revitalization of Century  2, not to exceed 25 million. upgraded and expanded   conventure convention center improvements not  to exceed 225 million. $150 million for property   tax relief. $150 million to establish a special  fund um to invest and to support homelessness and   housing services by per by funding affordable  housing projects. an amount not to exceed   $75 million for the development and construction  of a new downtown performing arts center. Um, as Mayor Woo stated on Friday, we received  information from the election commissioner that   polling places were required to be moved  and therefore the cost of the election has   increased. Um yesterday Mayor Woo pursuant to her  authority by city ordinance called for the spe   called called for this special meeting to discuss  the special election. Um in order to delay the   uh previously called special election, you have  to repeal the ordinance calling for that election.   Um once that ordinance is repealed, the council  could pass a new ordinance and a new notice   calling for a special election to occur um at  the time of the primary election or the general   election. Uh the election ordinance provisions  which have been presented mirror those of the   prior ordinance which was passed by the city  council um to provide guidance to the election   commissioner. As she mentioned, ballots are  mailed out um on Friday. So, it is required that   the city ordinance repealing the prior special  election ordinance be passed on one reading. Um,   which by city ordinances require that an  emergency declaration be made by the city council. Um, recommended action, the council can consider  one or two or more of these alternatives.   um declare the existence of a public mer emergency  and pass the ordinance on a single reading. Um   place the second ordinance on first reading  calling for a special election and approve the   proposed notice of special election. And I would  stand for questions. I know Mayor Woo wanted some   information about um the guard rails. Um staff  have been working on the requested resolution to   try to formalize some of those issues that have  been presented by the city council. Um staff is   meeting with uh new city manager um tomorrow to  work and have additional conversations regarding   the public private partnership agreement which has  been discussed at the last meeting where this was   discussed. In addition to those guardrails, thank  you Sharon for the information. Um, I know that   the January 27th meeting we're going to talk  about each of the five quote buckets. Can you   provide what are some proposed guard rails that  are going to be discussed? In addition, what are   just the current ones that are in place at this  current moment? I'll ask Mark if Mark wants to try to talk about just what  that process would look like. Good. Uh, excuse me. Good afternoon, Mayor. Uh,  we've had some very preliminary discussions about   what those guard rails would would look like. Uh,  as you know, in the finance department, we have a   well practiced machine on uh accountability uh  for financial transactions. Uh, so it would fit   in well with us. uh we would attempt to segregate  all the funds in very specific buckets so that we   could ensure that they were only used exactly uh  as they were directed based on the referendum. Uh   some of the investment pieces we would still want  to work out what our investment policy and options   might be in those areas but again we uh would have  mechanisms to ensure that any investment income   from those particular items would remain in the  bucket for those. Uh we've had some preliminary   discussions again about how we could coordinate  our efforts with the oversight committee as well.   Again, we have practice with that model. Uh it's  been a while, but we employed a very similar model   with our countywide sales tax back in 1986.  So, that model is also familiar with us. So,   uh we're having a lot of discussions around  those issues. I'm confident that we would have   no problem developing procedures and policies  to keep everything segregated and to report all   the appropriate information to the appropriate  parties. Mark, can you share what current guard   rails are in place at the current moment? Can you  speak about these buckets yet again for the sales   tax coming up, the referendum? Again, we're in  the preliminary stages, mayor. Uh we're still   developing those. Uh we have a lengthy report  that was prepared that would outline uh some of   the procedures that we could employ again uh not  to get too much into accounting uh but we would   develop separate and distinct funds or projects  for every single item. Uh we would account for the   uh items specifically as would be outlined in an  audit plan. We typically would develop an audit   plan of exactly what we're going to report on and  what we're going to uh make sure we're compliant   with and then we would develop procedures  to ensure compliance with those. So again,   we're pretty well practiced at that. We do that  currently with capital projects as general capital   projects primarily because they're debt financed  and there's a whole series of rules around that.   So it's something we're very familiar with. We  would just have to adopt specific procedures for   uh any buckets developed as a result of the  referendum. Thank you, Mark. Council member   Hohheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Um, and at the  workshop, we will be prioritizing the order   of those buckets, too. Correct. Because some of  them we will have to start filling up immediately   and some of those buckets can wait a little while  before the capital has to or the revenue has to   flow into them. Well, that would be a good  discussion to have because again, when the   revenue comes into us, it would be helpful for  us if we knew whether allocated proportionally   or in a specific order. So that would be a good  discussion point. Okay. I appreciate. Yeah,   I think that's something a discussion we  will be having because um for example,   second light that'll have to be an immediate  cost that we that we look at helping help cover. Council member Johnston. Thank you, Mayor.  Uh Mark and email to me. If we put the ballot   on in August, when's the first time it could  collect sales tax? What would would the state   start collecting sales tax? When would they start  collecting it? Uh, based on Kansas Department of   Revenue regulations, we have to provide them 90  days notice of any proposed new sales tax. And   the second rule they have is they only begin at  the beginning of quarters. Uh so if you worked   at the calendar backwards uh the short answer is  January 1st is when this would be effective if the   referendum was adopted in or approved in August.  Okay. And it takes some time to send that money to   the community. When would that be? Yeah. There's  typically about a three-month lag. We would expect   our first distribution towards the end of March  probably. Okay. So the end of March would be   the first time any money would come in. Yes sir.  Okay. Thank you. That's a good follow-up question.   So if this remained at the March special election,  provide the date of when taxes would start getting   collected. And then again, one more time, if it  went to August, when it would be collected. Again,   I believe uh the current uh referendum that was  approved in December uh would take effect on   July 1st, if I remember correctly, uh which would  give us the ability to provide the 90-day notice   to KOR. And again, uh we would expect collected uh  July, August, probably around September. We would   receive our collections in September. Council  member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. Uh the mayor and   council member Johnston raised a good point. I'm  curious if maybe you can explain, Mark, when is   the city projected to face a budget shortfall and  by how much? Uh each year we develop a financial   plan associated with our budget process. It's a  point in time financial plan. That financial plan   was included in the budget that the city council  adopted back in August of 2025. Uh that financial   plan has a deficit in uh 2028 of $4.1 million and  in 2029 of approximately $8 million. Um followup,   how does the stabilization or the reserve fund  play into that considering that we know that a   rainy day may be coming? Sure. Uh we created  the stabilization fund I believe in uh 2020   uh during the pandemic. Uh we were receiving  abnormally large revenues from a variety of   sources particularly interest income and so uh  the city council established the stabilization   reserve and we basically swept our abnormally  large revenue streams into the stabilization   reserve and and built the balance. uh that reserve  is available for purposes based on policy. Uh   typically reserves are better suited for one-time  purposes, but it is available. Uh in the adopted   budget last year that the city council approved,  uh it envisions drawing down approximately $9   million from that uh stabilization reserve in  years 27, 28, and 29. Mayor, if I may have one   final followup. So, assuming the sales tax  passes, a lot of folks reached out yesterday   because I mentioned that there's a potential  of $197 million in CIP saving. Not all at once,   of course. I think that's important to clarify.  Like, we're not going to wake up one day and have   $197 million in the bank. It'll be over time. So,  can you clarify how much uh per year is projected   of that 197 give or take? And then um if there  is a possibility to earmark those funds prior   to those savings so that community can have  a voice in how those dollars are being used. Sorry sir I wasn't running away from your  question. I just wanted to get some uh   detail because that is included in our CIP and  I don't have the CIP memorized unfortunately.   Uh you are correct. RCIP includes $197 million  for public safety improvements. Uh small technical   point I will point out that five million of that  is revenue we expect to receive from KOT. So the   local shares actually a little closer to about  193 million. But a fine point on that but that   is allocated over a 10-year period 2026 to 2035.  And it's not linear. We allocate resources based   on need and financial capacity. Now, the public  safety section happens to be rather front-loaded,   which is to say that the bulk of  it is in the first five years. Uh,   but to your specific question, if you don't mind,  I'll just read the amounts off. I'm going to use   round numbers. We have about 14.4 million in 2026,  about uh 17.5 million in 27, 22.6 6 million in 28,   33.9 million in 29, uh 31.9 million in 30, 2030,  and uh 21 million in 2031, uh 18 million in 2032,   19 20 million or so rounded in 2033, uh 10  million in 2034, and about 8 million in 2035. A follow-up question before U. Vice Mayor uh  Glascock, can you just explain um how we currently   are funding these will be potentially  funding these public safety facilities,   police and fire stations and equipment. Can  you address the bond versus cash funding of   these major capital investments? Yeah. uh with  the exception of the kada funding I mentioned   the entire public safety project plan of 193 some  million dollars is will be funded in the current   adopted CIP with general obligation funding.  Uh general obligation funding means that we   would finance it out of our debt service fund  uh into which we levy approximately seven mills.   Now to your specific question, uh we have  the capacity to debt finance that we also   have the capacity to pay cash for that. Uh  typically, and it varies based on project,   but typically our target ratio is approximately  50% cash and 50% debt. Again, I won't go into the   nuances because it can vary significantly based on  project and timing and a lot of other variables.   But simplistically, of that 193 million, we'd  expect to issue what, 95 million or so in debt   over that 10-year period and probably pay about  95 million in cash over that 10-year period. And that ratio of 5050 could change. Is that  one of the proposals that you know of regarding   the sales tax? Well, it probably would change  for the capital improvement program because   uh our total go in the capital improvement program  is somewhere in the neighborhood of $350 million.   So public safety is literally over half of our  entire CIP on the go side. So if that portion   was funded with a different source, uh that  would provide the council with a variety of   options. I mean I suppose that 190 million could  be reallocated to other purposes. Uh we could,   you know, you would have options of whether the  mill levy going in the debt service fund was the   set at the appropriate level or to your point  another uh option would be for us to accelerate   our cash funding of the remainder of the uh  capital pro program and then you know basically   modify that 50/50 ratio probably to zero to 100  zero and 100 maybe I don't know we would issue   we would our is our need to issue debt would be  significantly reded in our capital improvement   program if the public safety portion was removed  from it and cash funding obviously would remove   the aspect of interest rates. Can you address  how much in savings could be had if it went all   into cash funding versus bond funding? Uh I'll  start out with that because I I did look at this   uh a week or so ago. The public safety portion  that I mentioned maybe issuing 95 million over 10   years or so. uh if we did that uh that interest  cost on that based on a variety of assumptions   that we typically use would be somewhere in the  neighborhood of 25 or 26 million. So in other   words uh we would not have the need for that  issuance on the public safety side and means   that the city would save approximately 25 or 26  million in projected interest that we would pay.   I can't really answer the second part of  your question with any degree of precision   uh because I I I did model that. But if we did  have more cash in the debt service fund to to   pay cash for the remainder of it, I think it's  very likely that we would not issue any more geo   debt for the foreseeable future. Uh which means  that uh the only debt service payments we would   make were for our existing already issued debt.  Uh again, I I apologize. I did not run a model on   that. Uh but I would guess it would be uh probably  15 1617 million. A lot of variables involved. So   I'm you know giving you the big picture view but  uh generally that's what I would estimate. Thank   you Mark. Vice Mayor Glosskott. Thank you. I just  want to an have that question answered again. How   much would we save by cash funding these projects  over the course of uh the seven years? Uh if we   cash funded uh the public s if the public safety  portion uh if we could cash fund the entire public   safety portion I would estimate we would save  somewhere neighborhood of 25 to$26 million. So if   this were to pass in March the city would save$2  to $30 million in um the interest earnings from   that or the debt pay debt service payments for  it. If the if this passes in March and the CIP is   reflective of the elimination of the GEO funding  for public safety projects, then yes, we would   likely save about 25 or$26 million over the course  of the CIP. Okay. Thank you. Follow-up question to   that, this may be a little nuanced and a little  specific. So, if you don't have this information,   that's totally fine. Last week, we purchased a  new fire apparatus. Um, how much would we have   saved if we would have cash funded that project  based on debt servicing over the life of that   project? What was it? Four$45 million correctly.  Uh, I really can't answer with any precision,   but it would be probably in the upper hundreds of  thousands. Okay. So, that one project that we debt   serviced last week, if we would have cash funded  it as part of the sales tax, would have saved a   couple hundred,000 theoretically. Yeah, I mean  simplistically interest uh ultra simplistically   is maybe 15 or 20% of a total project cost. So if  it was 5 million 15% would be what? 750,000 maybe.   So we could have saved 750,000 if this let's say  we would have had the sales tax six months ago   potentially. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Council Member  Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. Um Mark, there are some   concerns from community that they want to know  how these dollars are being used and want to be   able to follow along should this sales tax pass.  And I would argue even even without a sales tax,   I just feel that there's a major appetite to  be able to follow along on what's happening   with city finances. Given your capacity as  a department, what what is realistic for the   finance department to commit to so that the public  has readily available access to how their dollars   are being spent, where it's going, and where we  may be falling short and can do better. Well,   again, uh that is in our wheelhouse. That's what  we do routinely and consistently. Currently,   we report formally on a quarterly basis. uh  obviously we would have the capacity to report on   more frequent time periods and in more greater  detail. It's kind of a balance between staff   resources and uh the degree of reporting we'd  certainly have the capacity to do that. Uh yes,   would it require additional work for us? Uh on the  reporting side probably. Uh we would either re rep   prioritize resources in the finance department or  we have some contractual partners in some cases we   lean on. Uh I will point out to you council member  uh we're in the middle of a centralization process   which I think you're aware of. Uh that process  will provide capacity in the finance department   for a variety of things and that might be useful  for us uh if we enhance our financial reporting   to a more frequent period. Uh so that might be  a way that we would mitigate some of the effort   that any additional financial reporting would  require. Council member Hoheisle. Thank you,   Mayor. Uh Mark, now this the CIP is not edged in  stone, right? Like there's constant move bumping   projects up, bumping projects back depending on  the availability and the projections that we have   in in the budget in the CIP. Correct. The CIP is a  plan and any plan is subject to change. Obviously,   we have parameters under which we like to consider  changes to it, but you're exactly right. Uh and   in fact, every CIP project is actually approved  twice. you approved the plan when you approved   the adopted CIB, but we don't initiate a project  until staff brings that specific project to you.   And you're right, variety of issues impact that  timing, sometimes strategic uh issues. You know,   sometimes if we're leveraging funds and we have  issues there. So, there's a variety of reasons   why projects move back and forth in the capital  improvement program, but generally we use it as   a guiding plan for what we want to accomplish.  But yes, I wouldn't disagree with you. they   move forward and backwards and sometimes the  amounts increase, sometimes they decrease. So,   it is a plan, right? Um I do remember a couple  years ago we took a pretty large chunk of money   from Crystal Prairie Lake and put it towards  firehouses, at least 20 million, I believe. Um so,   what what does the CIP look like currently? And  do you see us adjusting and possibly bumping some   things back in the CIP with current projections  based on our current projections? Uh the capital   improvement program is a little different than the  operating budget uh for one particular reason, two   particular reasons. One, the capital improvement  program is not financed with interest earnings and   all our volatility on the general fund is largely  on the revenue side due to interest earnings. Uh,   conversely, assessed valuation is significant  in the capital improvement program and as we   know that's been pretty strong, which has actually  been good for the capital improvement program. Our   projections going forward, again, we're heavily  reliant on property tax in the capital improvement   program. Uh, we generally have some pretty  conservative estimates in the out years. Uh,   we've been pretty surprised by the valuation  growth in the last few years. We don't model   that to continue. Uh so I guess my point is  there's just not quite the pressure on the   capital improvement program that we have on  the operating budget. There's a little bit   more flexibility there. So okay. So what are the  projections moving forward? Do we are we looking   at the state potentially capping property taxes?  Just property tax assessments going down. What's   helping to inform our projections there? That's a  great point. We do not project things like that.   We're certainly cognizant that any action by  the state legislature could impact our property   tax revenues which would have a significant impact  most likely on the uh capital improvement program.   I was just referring more generically to our  modeling. We always model assessed valuation   growth. Uh again, we visit with our friends  across the street or not across the street,   more down the street over at the uh at the county  and they uh help us and give us some information   that they have available about trends and we try  to use that to make an informed projection of   typical growth irrespective of any potential  legislative changes. Okay, appreciate that. Vice Mayor Glascock. Thank you, Mayor. I got a  response back from the fire chief. So, thank you,   Fire Chief, for sending some information  regarding the fire apparatus. Based on finances   calculations, we would have spent 800,000.  So, you're very on the money up here. Thank   you. 800,000 or we would have saved 800,000. Um,  and so in action really cost us 630,000 if we're   looking at the net positive of the sales tax.  So, thank you for that. Thank you. I'm having   a good day. I guess you are. That's great. My  question then now is about one of those buckets.   Um it is the property tax relief. Um I think from  this bench we've talked about multiple things but   uh the number I recall is a 4 mil reduction. Can  you talk about our current mill levy um and what   happened this past uh August of 25 regarding a  mill levy reduction um and what this would mean   if we had a four mill. Sure. Uh I'm gonna use  round numbers, mayor, because I can't remember   the it goes out four or five decimals and I can't  remember the decimals. Uh but our mill levy is in   the neighborhood. Uh traditionally has been in the  neighborhood about 32.7 ballpark. Uh as you know,   we've uh had a policy here at the city to keep it  flat for years and years and years. Approximately   uh if you discount the impact of reappraisal  and reclassification happened in the early 90s,   our mill levy has essentially been flat for and  not increased for 40ome years. Uh but uh last year   uh particularly due to our valuation growth, the  council made the policy decision to reduce our   mill levy and we actually reduced it by about a  half a mill uh which I think was the first time it   actually been reduced by action of the governing  body again in probably about 40 years. Uh so our   mill levy now is closer to I believe 32.3 32.2  sometime somewhere in that neighborhood and   uh that's what happened last year. So what would  happen with the four mil reduction if that was to   occur? I know that we're in the middle of a new  budget cycle uh that you're going to propose to   us. Will you have two different budgets? one that  shows one that doesn't have a four mil reduction   and one that does have a four mill reduction.  I don't know that we'd go that route, mayor,   if the referendum is currently scheduled for  March and if it's uh approved, uh most likely   what staff would recommend when the budget was  developed and we discussed this in workshops   is based on the direction in the referendum  to use that funding to reduce the mill levy.   Most likely we would estimate what that amount  would be available. uh the amount that would be   available. Now remember, we're setting the mill  levy for 2027 because our mill levy for 2026 is   already set. Uh but I would envision uh that we  would determine the amount of revenue necessary   in the general fund to fund whatever level of uh  uh outcomes the city council desired and then we   would subtract from that the amount of money  that we believed would be available from the   sales tax. And you're correct, ballpark figures  roughly that would probably about four mills.   Thank you, Council Member Hoisel. Thank you,  Mayor. Um, on the prop on the property tax relief   question here, uh, do you feel like this ordinance  has um gives us latitude to make more targeted   property tax relief or do you do you interpret  it as just being across the board mill every   reduction? Uh, council member, that's probably  a better question reserved for your council,   but my my understanding was based on the previous  discussions that it would be utilized for uh,   as I noted, just an effort to reduce the overall  mill levy, but again, I'm I'm not an attorney, so   I'm probably not qualified to answer the nuances  of your question. Okay. I I'd be curious about   that. I know this isn't necessarily the place. I  think the workshop's something that we can work on   that more, but that is something I'm in very much  interested in is making sure that we target it   towards the people who need the relief the most.  Um, so again, I keep talking about the homestead   rebate, trying to match that again. We did it in  2023. So, just again putting it on people's radar   and I would be uh curious. I think that would also  be something that would be up to any um oversight   committee as well to kind of make a judgment  on their interpretation of um of the ordinance.   But that's something I would like to have some  clarification for before um our workshop on the   27th. I'm sorry, sir. I may have misunderstood  your question. I thought your question was more   towards which mill levy and how would we reduce  the mill levy, but I understand your question   now. Uh yes. Uh you know, that's been discussed  as well. Uh I think uh the former city manager   mentioned some of the challenges we have with  that. Uh we did uh develop a property tax relief   program several years ago. Uh we want to ensure  accountability in that program. And so essentially   our mechanism to do that was to copy it completely  based on the state program. Yes sir. Uh you know   that certainly would be an option uh if we  want to go that route. Uh or I'm sure there's   other options available. The challenge for us is  ensuring auditability and accountability and how   we spend those dollars. And our second challenge  would be how to do that in a manner that is   efficient for staff to do because particularly on  the property tax uh program it resulted in a lot   of applications that were relatively small dollar  for us. I recognized is very important to the   people that we paid the money to and it was you  know it was uh you know made us feel good to make   those payments based on some of the applications  I saw. So, I'm glad we did it, but it's it can be   labor intensive, so we'd want to consider that as  well. Yeah, if I remember correctly, we brought in   or they they would bring in their um their tax  information and show that yeah, they qualified   for it and got the homestead rebate and then we  would just take the city's share of that and give   them a rebate. And I believe your estimates could  be up to $250 by your estimates. Um um a big part   of that is senior citizens who make $41,000 or  less. and then also people living in poverty and   disabled American veterans. So again, just putting  it on the radar since it came up in this topic.   So, but you're right. You're right. The beauty  of that program though was we didn't audit any   information provided us. We assumed that if they  provided it to the state of Kansas that KOR would   be auditing and verifying their returns. So, that  made it much simpler to us. if you could show us   a tax return and that KOR had accepted it, that  was that provided us with the accountability piece   that we needed and that's why we piggyback on the  state program. Okay, appreciate it. Thank you,   Mark. This question is um for someone else on  staff. I'm not clear who would be available to   answer this question. Um but second light is the  shelter uh plus services that are being provided   at 9inth and main street and currently I believe  those dollars run out by the end of September.   I wanted to know what is the plan in regards  to operating dollars beyond October 1st. And   for full disclosure, Council Member Ballard  and I both sit on the second light board. So, honorable mayor, members, council,  Troy Anderson, assistant city manager.   So, I don't know if there is a plan beyond I'  I'd have to defer to the board of Second Light   uh to I don't know what their status is on funding  outside of the ARPA funds that were provided. Uh   but you're you're correct. The ARPA funds that  were provided uh were supposed to provide funding   through the end of 2026. uh we accelerated  that just for auditing purposes and closing   out accounts uh that those be spent by uh the  end of Q3 of this year. Uh but otherwise beyond   uh Q3 of this year, beyond those ARPA funds, the  city has not allocated any other funds to support   uh Second Light in the day-to-day operations.  And do you recall the amount that is needed to   operate Second Light? So, if my memory serves me  correctly, they've come up with a number of about   $4 million a year uh for annual operations.  Thank you. I see no further questions from the   bench. We will open it up for public comment.  And as a reminder, we have limited it to three   minutes uh so that everyone has the opportunity  to speak. Please state your name and your address. Good morning, city council. Celeste, former  chief internal auditor. Too big, too rushed,   too vague. One of you said yesterday, and I quote,  "A group brought this to us. We did not bring   this proposal forward. A separate group brought  this proposal forward. A separate group." That's   another word for insider. I say insiders because  of the Webster definition. A person who is in a   position to have special knowledge of the affairs  of or to influence the decisions of a company.   When were discussions started with insider  groups for this planned sales tax increase?   That's a big question. Insiders are not to make  decisions for city council. Taxpayers elected   each of you to make decisions for city council.  Here's what your responsibilities are right off   this placard. Community representation, budget  approval, legislative authority, not bankers,   construction companies, or business owners. Not  insiders. One of you said, and I quote, "To say   I'm frustrated and baffled is the understatement  of the century. That's not transparent. That's   not giving anyone in the community any trust  in us." Unquote. I hate to break it to you,   but 70% of Witchaw citizens do not trust you.  Taxpayers are incredibly frustrated that you   all held secret private meetings with business  insiders behind closed doors before this was   presented in December in city council. You want  to know what's incredibly unfortunate for Witchaw?   That some of you sitting here on city council  passed an $80 million vote on a new ball stadium   through an emergency ordinance and that former  city manager Leightton overestimated the revenue   causing the general fund to have to pick up the  tab. It's incredibly unfortunate that some of   you sitting on city council allowed a former city  may mayor, excuse me, to change the bid on the new   city water plant after a freebie golf trip. It's  incredibly unfortunate that some of you sitting   on city council did nothing when two insider  developers sold off collateral on a taxpayer   funded $2 million loan. The loan went into default  and the loan was off the books. That's Kenmar. And   I hate to take offense with finance manager. I  hate to say this, but that is not an accounting   practice that I consider well vetted. When you  have loans off the books that aren't recorded for   $2 million, that is a travesty of taxpayer funds  that we entrust to you to spend properly. It is   incredibly unfortunate that the city of Witchaw  had no internal auditor for three years. This   violated administrative regulation 1.2 and that  just astounds me. It's incredibly unfortunately   unfortunate that you allowed an outsider group  to violate city commission policy number 20.   Municipal facilities are not to be used  for commercial or political activities. So,   how is it that this outside group, not a  charity, was allowed to speak at the advanced   learning library and during district advisory  meetings when my nonprofit group is held to only   five minute meetings a year. It is incredibly  unfortunate that a bipartisan group spent hours   finding efficiencies and savings in the Witchdaw's  process, but former city manager Leighton failed   to meet with us. And one of our suggestions was  to pay off the debt on the Fairfield in early   and save a million dollars, but the finance  department said with low interest rates,   why would they pay off that bond debt? And  yet here we are being told that they need   to cash fund the CIP. Strongly disagree with  you. Too big, too rushed, too big. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Billy Anderson. I live at  1227 Jefferson. I'm in Maggie Ballard's district.   Hi Maggie. And congratulations to Joseph and  Maggie for the re-elections or for elections.   Okay. I came here I come here today with good  intentions and I assume all of you have good   intentions too. That that's the assumption.  That's the basis that I'm going to make the   short presentation if I can get this thing to  open now. Um I'm sorry. Uh one of the things   that has bothered me from the beginning  is the apparent urgency of this. Um can   everybody hear me? All right. Good. Okay. Um  Joseph and I were at that first meeting when   these people presented it and one of the things  that came out of that was the lack of trust.   We I mean it was really it was palpable. People  don't trust what you guys do. Unfortunately,   there's a lot of lack of trust. Okay. Uh  the urgency. Come on, open this up. Oh man,   I am sorry. I'm really sorry. Okay. Um it feels  like a bulldozer. Uh shortly after that meeting,   I started seeing ads on TV. uh particularly during  the the news cycle for this prop proposing this   all the wonderful things we could have without  mentioning the 1% regressive sales tax that was   not mentioned to me that I'm suspicious of things  like that it sounds like we're being hoodwinkedked   bulldozed more than 8/10en of a we're asking  people over the course of seven years for us to   put in almost eight or more than 810 of a billion  dollars That's a lot of cash you're asking people   to come up with. The tax is regressive. Today I  was really interested in hearing bucket reminds   me the limit about Nucket and I won't continue  the rest of that. Uh but we've we all know where   that ends up. Uh but in terms of buckets,  sorry, in terms of buckets, I really wish   whenever we have this or if if it is done and I  I prefer not to have a regressive tax to do it,   but it' be prioritized. We have a bucket for a  public private cultural center as opposed to a   bucket to help the homeless. What should which  should have greater priority? Which should have   greater priority? My concern is this has not  there's nothing concrete about this. We have   no idea what is being proposed actually how this  thing is going to look and I really ask you all to   do do the research take the time so that you would  know what the heck we're going to be doing and   then you could and then you could propose it then  then you then you could try to educate us about   what's needed and how it's going to happen. It's  my wife's calling. Sorry. Uh, if she were here,   she could tell you about problems with sensory  2. She worked here for over 30 years. Uh,   there are a lot of problems with sensory 2, but  they're all all all kinds of things that don't   make sense. Don't make sense. I thank you very  much for your effort. Um, forget the buckets,   okay? Let's just have let's prioritize the  needs of people of Witchah. Thank you very much. Good afternoon. My name is Joan Schneider.  I am an attorney and a retired Army veteran.   I'm not going to waste your time. As a former  Army leader, I know nothing is more important   than having the trust of those who follow  you. And that means accountability and   transparency. When people cannot trust the  process, they do not trust their leaders.   Rushing this proposal to a special election  creates the impression, true or not, true   or not, that this leadership places special  interests above those that they represent. The right thing to do is to move the election to  the August election. There's no additional cost   for moving it. Yes, there is a cost in that  the tax will not be collected as quickly. But   when you consider the cost of the reputation  of this council and the trust of the people   that it serves, it is more valuable to maintain  that trust or to earn that trust rather than   eroding it just to rush such an important  issue that still deserves po popular comment,   actual discussion. and for the people  to consider it rationally. Therefore,   it should be considered on the August  ballot and not in March. Thank you. Uh, good afternoon and I'm Corey Schwarz Fagger,  uh, 72 13 Chelsea Street, District 2. Um,   Becky Tuttle is my um is my council member. Um,  you know, there's still a lot of questions even   today. And and uh, by the way, thank  you uh, Mayor Woo and um, and uh, uh,   council members Shepard and Hohheisel for agreeing  to um, um, have the special meeting. I think it's   important to have more discussion about this and  uh, in light of the new information that's come   um, and I think minds can be uh, uh, changed  um, based on the new information. Um there's,   you know, there's some important things that could  happen with the sales tax, but if you push the   uh um if you go ahead and keep it on the March  election, it's going to fail and then we're not   going to have that funding. So this theoretical  six months of uh um extra funding that's been   talked about that could happen wouldn't happen  because it wouldn't be there. Um, you know, I've   been a supervising judge at several um um election  polling places uh for the uh several years and um   and you know, and especially during the last  year when we had several special um elections,   people were complaining about the special  elections and you know, why are they doing this?   and uh and and uh Commissioner Rainwater um  mentioned um that the um amount of you know people   she didn't have the figure. I know that council  member Hohisel asked for some metrics about   the number of people that were um you know mad  about um um their polling places changed. Well,   I can tell you as a poll worker that we get a  lot of people angry um when they come and they   uh this is their polling site for years. All of a  sudden, it's not. They've been shifted around. And   uh and also remind you that um this shift will  happen twice. If it if in March they're going   to be shifted to one polling place, then in in  August they're going to be shifted to another   polling place, back to their other one. So,  they're going to have to be informed twice.   and a lot of people don't um see those males  that go out to um find their polling place. So,   there's a lot of frustration and we don't turn  away voters. You know, we uh um if they we tell   them if you want to stay, you can do a provisional  ballot, which is more work for the for the um um   the voter and it's more work for the um the county  election office, too. But uh but I'm primarily   uh concerned about the voters. And if you want to  really engage the voters and you want the voters,   you want the the people of the city of Witchah  really to voice their opinion on and to do this,   then you'll give them time and push this off  to um August or November where there'll be   more time for them to come and there'll be more  people. I guarantee there's going to be a lot   of people at this August election with that um  constitutional amendment. There's going to be   um a lot of voters there. So, please um delay  the um till later date the vote. Thank you. Good morning, James Barfield. Well, good  afternoon, I guess. Uh, District 1. You know,   I'm here today to address some comments that were  made on yesterday at the uh, council meeting.   And first thing I want to say is I am baffled that  nobody is talking about the issue that affects   every single family in the city of Witchah and  that is the food sales tax that would be applied   if this bill would go forward. Now secondly I  want to address some of the comments and some   of them are almost comical. On yesterday, I heard  more than once that we didn't bring this. It was   brought to us. And let me just tell you that 90%  of the items that you discuss here are brought to   you. And let me just tell you why we don't trust  you. You've heard the word trust from almost   everybody that's spoken. Let me tell you a few  items that were brought to you that you brought   to us. the water walk, which we in the we're on  the hook for $40 million. The Genesis project,   which we lost hundreds of thousands, the  Kenmore project, which we're on the hook   for $1.4 million. It is projects like this  that has caused the public not to trust you.   Now the thing about it is this. When we all of you  were elected to represent us and after hearing the   comments yesterday, I think some of you have  forgotten who you're supposed to represent. It   was said yesterday that these people that propose  on this are taking a risk. How are they taking a   risk? They have not invested $1. The people that  are here are the ones that are taking the risk.   They're the ones who are going to be paying  for this should it go through. So I need I   need you guys to really take a strong look  at not who is making these proposals because   all these have one thing in common. The  Water Rock Project, the Kenmore project,   the Genesis project, and this one all were  proposed by rich millionaires and billionaires   to suck up our hardworking tax dollars. It's  time to put it to a stop. And yesterday,   I proposed that you uh repeal it. Today, I'm  going to say take it completely off the table. I apologize. I have a couple of people on the  board really quick. Council member Ho Heisel.   Thank you, Mayor. Uh Mr. Barfield, yesterday my  brother, who serves in the state legislature,   introduced legislation to give cities and counties  the option to eliminate their local sales tax on   groceries um just like the state has done. So, we  are in contact with them. I realize it didn't come   up yesterday, but that is something that all of us  up here are are united and trying to push through   for this. We would be the only municipality in the  state of Kansas that I know of that we subjected   to paying taxes on food. No, that's every every  municipality does who has a sales tax. That's   actually ingrained in the state law. So, if you  go out to Derby or if you go out to any of the   other surrounding towns that have a sales tax  um and actually right now you are paying that   um for the countywide sales tax on food still  1% currently. Well, okay. The governor worked   very hard for a number of years to finally get to  the point where we don't pay it. And we've only   enjoyed that for one year and now we're going  to be reimposing that. That's unfair. And that   is a state sales tax that they lowered it to zero  on. But the any municipalities and counties are   still paying uh sales tax on groceries. Okay.  Second question. That was it. Okay. Thank you.   Vice Mayor Glascock. Thank you. I don't have  any questions, Mr. Barfield. I would just like   to say the Waterwalk deal was passed in 2002. I  was eight. Um, Genesis was 2011. I was in high   school and Kenmar was. So, it's not this council  that made those terminations. And often many of   those many of us from this bench got elected to  try to be able to change business at city hall.   But I will not be responsible for something that  happened for this bench when I was eight years   old. Council member Shepard. Thank you, mayor.  My comment is uh in reference to I was going   to wait until the end, but um if we can the city  manager can please give one of the with one of the   previous speakers to discuss uh the discrepancy as  to why their nonprofit group was being told that   they could not utilize the lot the the services at  the same rate as others. I feel very strongly that   we should be equitable and fair across the board.  And I'm not sure what the entire situation was.   I'm not blaming anybody here, but um if we can  at least take the time to just communicate and   clarify um I think folks would be really  grateful for that. I will just add to that,   city manager, that is the safe sentry 2 group  and I would love for you guys to offline have   that conversation. Thank you very much. We'll  continue with public comment and what I want   to use my point of privilege to recognize that  Commissioner Jim How is here. Well, thank you,   Madam Mayor. It's a great honor to be here.  This is actually my second time to appear before   the city council in my 12 years as a county  commissioner. It's quite the honor to do so.   Say congratulations once again to council member  Shepard for being on this bench. Looking forward   to get to know him. I know all of you very well  and I respect you greatly. I just want to say I   I appreciate the uh this this discussion this  afternoon and I know you have a very difficult   uh job ahead of you to make a decision  on behalf of this city. And again,   I'm not here about the sales tax, believe it  or not. I'm here to actually make a point about   Laura Rainwater. She doesn't even know I'm here  to speak on her behalf. She's already left. She   didn't know I was going to be here. Well, I guess  she might be. Anyway, I I just wanted to reflect   a little bit on the on the uh on the 26,000 in  in the $20,000 state statute. It's KSA 25-221B stipulates the charging for this election. It  is not our choice. It's state law. and and the   the cost of the election must be born by the city  if it's not a August or November election. That's   just the way the law works. So, we're not trying  to be mean. We're not trying to disenfranchise   anybody. These comes down to private property  rights. These these locations made a choice to   either support the election or not. We can't force  them to do that. We we're there essentially by by   their invitation, by their goodwill. They let  they let us conduct the election on their site.   And if you ask them what about this particular  date and they say they can't do it, we have no   way to control that decision. this this is not  disenfranchising voters uh by by some intentional   sinister corruption effort and that some people in  the community have used those words that this was   some type of manipulation to cause the election  to to be approved or or to be uh rejected. So the   end of the day this has nothing to do with Cedric  County. Laura Rainwater I'll say for the record   she does a great job. Uh Tabitha Layman does did  a great job. She was my sister-in-law. I learned   about I actually worked as a supervising judge  in numerous elections. Learned about elections.   I pride myself in having a lot of information  about election integrity as a board of canvasers,   election integrity, election uh election uh  quality matters to me and I would just say that uh   uh these folks that are doing really a thankless  job. They do a tremendous job. They follow the   law and there was no ill intent to anybody to  disenfranch disenfranchise anyone. In fact,   the word disenfranchise means specifically  an effort to deprive somebody the right to   vote. There was no intention by anybody on the  county or in that election office to deprive   anybody's the right to vote. In fact, we want to  accommodate everybody their right to vote. So,   Laurner does a great job. I would love to talk  about taxes or election integrity anytime. Um   the uh Mike Cohisel was exactly right that this  is state law regarding the 1% the 1% sales tax   is on food. about 17% of the revenue comes from  food and I would love to talk about that if I   had time but I'm out of time. So, thank you for  what you do. I support you all regardless of the   decision today. Thank you so much. Thank you,  Commissioner Howell. And I also want to point   of privilege recognize that chairman of Cedric  County. Uh Jeff Blue is here in the audience as   well. Vice Council Council member Johnston. Thank  you, Mayor Commissioner. I was the one that said   that and I did not know that. So, thank you for  telling me that. I I like Laura very well. Know   her for a long time. She does a great job. Um  so that was me. A little frustration in in a   moving target of a number, but I understand  why, but a little frustration on a moving   target or the number moves. So So thank you for  Thank you for clarifying that. So thank you. Meer and Acriman District One. Congratulations.  Um, based on my need to be in another meeting,   I'll be brief. It's too quick.  It's too vague. What is the   $25 million going to be spent on at  Century 2? What is the $225 million   that's going to be spent? I'm guessing  this is on Bob Brown. It's It says   convention and that's the only convention  I'm aware that the city owns or maintains based on past councils past management.  $10 million was allocated for maintenance   at Century 2. It was moved and spent  somewhere else. It's great to say, "Oh,   we got 10 million in the budget." But if you move  that money, which you can legally do, you lie to   people. The other thing that concerns me is in  the past there was money sent from the county to   the city as part of regular tax, I guess, sharing  we'll put it. The city put it in the wrong funds.   What was supposed to go in one fund went in number  two. What was supposed to go in number two went in   number one. This was not reported. This wasn't  this wasn't even found by city staff. So you   have a history of moving money around whether  not this council, which I respect. This is too   fast. You need to stop this and you need to give  us time to look at it and seriously. Thank you. Hello. Uh my name is Dos Grimes. Uh this is my  first time in uh going before the council. Um   good afternoon. Um I'm here today to speak against  the proposed sales tax. A sales tax is not just a   number on a ballot. It's a choice about who pays  and who gets protected. And this proposal places   the burdens on young people, working families, and  especially renters. Sales tax are regressive. That   means the people with the lease end up paying the  most. If you work hourly or raising kids or are   just starting out, every grocery trip costs  more, every school supplies run costs more,   and every basic necessity costs more. Meanwhile,  the wages stay the same, and rent keeps rising.   And young people are just told to quote, "Make  it work." And that's frustrating because Witchaw   should be a place where people can build  a life. People come to Witchaw for real   reasons. For aviation and manufacturing jobs that  build the city, for an affordable cost of living,   or at least what it's supposed to be. For  neighborhoods like Riverside and College   Hill. for weekends in Oldtown, evenings near the  keeper of the plains, and community spaces like   Deleno that give the city its character. I'm here  because I want to stay in Witchaw. I want to build   my life here. I want to work here, organize here,  and invest in this community and not be priced   out of it. In Witchaw, nearly 16% of renters  live below the poverty line, higher than the   Kansas average. That means tens of thousands of  families are already struggling to make ends meet,   and young people in Witchaw already feel the  pressure. Rent is up and utilities are up,   and even child care is more expensive these days.  So when we're told that the solution is another   sales tax, it feels disconnected from reality. I  know this proposal is framed as an investment for   property tax relief, public safety, and addressing  homelessness. Those are real issues and they   deserve serious solutions. But a regressive  sales tax is the wrong tool. Sales tax don't   meaningfully help renters or young people, many  of whom who will never see property tax relief,   but will feel the tax on every single day  items. Oversight committees in a seven-year   sunset doesn't change who pays first and who pays  the most. And seven years is a long time when   you're living paycheck to paycheck. You can't fund  housing stability by raising the cost of living.   And you can't build public safety by making people  less economically secure. If Witchaw wants young   workers here, the people grabbing coffee downtown  before work, or the people spending their weekends   at local restaurants, then it cannot be  balancing the budget on their backs. I   hear a lot of talk about keeping Wshaw competitive  and about retaining talent. But let me be clear,   people don't stay in cities that nickel and dime  them. They leave cities where their paycheck   doesn't stretch, where their voices feel ignored,  and their solution to every budget challenge is   simply add another tax. But there are there are  alternatives. That means investing in housing   stability, supporting local businesses, asking  more from large developments that benefit from   city resources, and building a city that people  can actually afford to live in. A blanket sales   tax is the opposite of targeted. It's blunt, and  it's unfair. And I want to say this respectfully   but plainly. Young people are paying attention.  We show up. We organize. And we vote. And we may   not know and we notice when decisions are  made about us instead of with us. Because   the future of Witchto should not be balanced on  the backs of the people trying hardest to build   their lives here. We must choose leadership that  invests wisely and not conveniently. Thank you. Good afternoon, council. My name is Eric  Loren. I live at 3739 West Angel Street,   Council Member Glascox District.  Congratulations on being appointed   vice mayor. Um I'm a self employed business  owner of two businesses. Uh so due to schedules   I was unable to attend a lot of the early  meetings surrounding this whole issue.   I am sure that the um three businessmen who came  up with this proposal are wonderful people. I do   not know them. So uh I I cannot necessarily  question their motivations behind this. Um I   have concerns about some areas of this sales tax  proposal. It being a temporary sales tax proposal.   There are a lot of questions about what happens  when that temporary sales tax increase goes away.   But I'm not here today to question that. That  is a discussion for another time. Uh what I am   concerned about is the pace at which this is  being presented. And the question I have is   why so fast? Why does this need to be done now?  what is going to change in another five months   uh between waiting until August and rushing this  through in my perception at the end of March. Um I had a couple email I had an email that I  sent out Monday morning to the to the council   and I did get a couple answers back. Um thank  you. Um, and I'm going to quote here from uh,   Council Member Glascock, and he said, "Before  the tax can be collected, the city must   identify eligible projects, define guard rails  for spending, and codify oversight requirements.   Great. Let's do that. But let's take the time  to do that before we ask people to vote on this.   um let's save that $170,000. Why do we need to  put this in March and spend that extra money as   opposed to wait five months until August and  put it in uh in course of a regular election,   regular primary election and not have to spend  that extra money. Um, I believe that, uh, from   my experience living in the state of Illinois,  when things like this are put in single issue   special elections and off months, the reason is a  lot of times is that's because we want to not draw   too much attention to it so it will pass easier.  Let's not do that. Let's not erode any more trust   than there seems to be an issue with with a lot  of the residents here already. Um, thank you.   Council member, Vice Mayor Glasco. Thank  you. Thank you, uh, Eric and Dallas,   both constituents of mine, for coming and  speaking today. Uh, Mr. Manager, the 27th,   could you describe what will be happening at  the January 27th city council meeting before the   March 3rd vote? We are looking to have different  presentations on the different aspects or what   we call the buckets so that there will be a bit  more clarity on how the funding will be spent,   structured. And so that will be the gist of the  presentation only on the 27th. Okay. Thank you. Good afternoon, Faith Martin. Um this will be the  fourth time I've spoken publicly about this issue   and um I don't really like spending that much  time up here um for free. But uh I really care   about civic engagement and all of you know that  about me. That's something I deeply care about.   even when the election office asked if  I would work this election even though   I have a vote no sign in my yard. That's how  much I care about civic engagement. Um just   to answer a few questions. Um there will be  at least in my district five candidates and   one ballot initiative. So that's only six  items or 11 if you break it all into five   different questions. Um I'm also a third  party voter. So unaffiliated, independent,   and third-party voters will get informed the  way we do about everything by paying attention   um and staying engaged with local government.  Um we don't typically get mailings from our   party because we don't have one or they're too  small. So we just have to be more informed. Um I   appreciate the opportunity to talk about delay and  how there'll be no cost. Like I said, I've been a   supervising judge before. People understand that  sometimes moves happen, but to spend this kind of   money when there's so much opposition seems very  irresponsible to me. When August or November it's   an election that's already paid for, staff have  already been hired, location have already been   secured, that just seems irresponsible. Um, I'd  like to talk a little bit about the CIP because   we've talked a little bit about guardrails today  and I try to come up during the budget session   and talk about these items that I care about.  As far as I know, the only guard rail on the   CIP is for arts funding. By ordinance, you're  required to spend a certain amount on arts.   You're not required to spend anything on fire.  You're not required to spend anything anywhere   because you can move things around as you need  to. Um, as far as I know, there's about 171,   don't quote me, I'm not the finance person,  um, that hasn't been to allocated to fire yet.   What is going to make sure that this how are we  going to ensure that that still gets allocated?   Like if you're not doing it in the CIP, what  tells the public besides a group of volunteers,   which how who knows how they're going to get  selected to manage that money? What if it's more   insiders and we still don't know where the money's  going? I would encourage if we're going to put   talk about guardrails, we need to put guard rails  on the CIP funding. Um, I'm also concerned about   the rush for Second Light. And I've said this  before in my comments. I've worked at a lot of   nonprofits. If we didn't have a sustainable fund,  whether it's through grants or donor funding,   our nonprofit wouldn't exist. I'm really concerned  that we're putting that on the backs of taxpayers   instead of having a sustainable. So, what  happens if we fund it now? And then to tax,   what's their sustainability plan? How are they  going to fund their operation after that? Um,   and then I've heard maps talked about before. Um,  if you go on to the maps page for Oklahoma City,   there is so much detail and there are so many  documents and there's so much public input about   exactly how it's going to be spent. If we're  going to do that, I would say unbundle it, let   the public see what each of those five items are,  have a group put together for each item, and then   vote on it either August or November. Otherwise,  I'm still going to be a vote now. Thank you. Hello, council members. I'm Shannon Boone. I live  and work in Maggie's district, and I play in all   of them. Um, so, as you've heard a lot today,  trust matters. Um, and right now, trust between   this community and its government is deeply  fractured. That distrust didn't appear overnight.   It's the result of years of watching projects  be mishandled, cost escalate, timelines slip,   and accountability fade. Waterwalk, the ballpark,  the ice center, the water treatment facility,   decades of deferred maintenance on city-owned  buildings and properties, chronic underfunding   of public safety facilities while needs continued  to grow. The those missteps have occurred under   council's past, but you are the ones in the  seats now. And this council, with one exception,   was aware of that history and the resulting lack  of public trust before making the decision to rush   an $850 million seven-year sales tax to a special  election ballot. You knew the context. You knew   the skepticism, and you knew the responsibility  that came with it. The public is not interested   in fingerpointing at those who came before you.  We are looking at you to follow through on the   promises of transparency and communication that  many of you ran on. Instead, residents experienced   a 70 vote to force a rushed election that the  community was not prepared for, despite large,   loud, and sustained opposition from the very  people being asked to shoulder this burden. That   decision sent a clear message, whether intended  or not, that the public's voice was secondary to   speed. And that message directly contradicts the  city's own mission. Your mission is to provide   policy direction for the city of Witchaw in  developing, implementing, and maintaining   services to its residents. You have adopted  strategic pillars to guide decision-making,   keeping Witchaw safe, building dependable  infrastructure, growing Witchaw's economy,   living well, and making Witchaw a well-run city.  Rushing a proposal of this scale without clear   city-led implementation plan undermines every  one of those pillars, especially the commitment   to being a well-run city. Witchaw Forward did  not arrive as a fully developed city plan.   It arrived as an idea brought forward by  unelected developer, banker, and business   owner. Their intentions may have been sincere,  but their intentions are not a substitute for   due diligence and ideas are not plans. Instead of  demanding and developing a complete voter-facing   implementation plan with timelines, project  sequencing, funding assumptions, equity impacts,   and contingency scenarios, this council chose  to move forward anyway. Since then, residents   asking legitimate questions have been met not  with answers, but with pressure. We're told   bundling unrelated priorities as a feature. We're  warned that if this fails, we'll lose Century 2,   we'll lose arts funding or lose momentum, as  though those outcomes would be the fault of   the voters rather than policy decisions made here.  That is fear-based messaging, and it deepens the   trust gap. Now, we are told the special meeting  is being called not because the public demanded   more time, but because the city may incur an  additional $20,000 cost. a cost that would   have been avoided had proper diligence been done  either by the council which forward or both almost   done I promise um before rushing this forward and  the fact that Waw Forward will be out advertising   money that they've chosen to spend if this vote is  delayed is frankly not our concern let me be clear   I'm not opposed to investing in Witchaw I'm not  opposed to using sales taxes for public purposes   I believe deeply that public safety addressing  homelessness and housing challenges and arts   and culture are vital vital to the success of our  city. That is exactly why this deserves to be done   right. Trust is rebuilt when leaders slow down,  listen, and do the work before asking voters to   fund these initiatives in this manner. So, I'm  asking this council to do two things. First,   acknowledge that the public's distrust is not  irrational. It has been earned. Second, provide   a clear, comprehensive city-led implementation  plan before asking voters to decide or delay this   vote until that work is done. Not by developers,  not by bankers, not by campaign committees, by   the city of Witchaw. Transparently, responsibly,  and in genuine partnership with the people you   serve. We are not asking you to abandon this  idea. We are asking you to govern responsibly. Council member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor. And  I want to address a couple of things from the   previous speaker. Uh Faith, thank you for being  here. And I know it can be taxing coming forward   and and sharing thoughts. I want you to know that  your voice uh certainly does make a difference   even when I don't agree particularly with you  all the time. Please know that I'm taking in   what I can and um I'm supportive of guard guard  rails for CIP. I don't know what that looks like   but I'll definitely depend on the experts to help  get us there. So I want you to know that and then   the second thing um I want to just offer another  interpretation that really concerns me and I think   um this is something that I was reminded of. You  know, I would find myself very frustrated during   the the campaign season of what don't people  understand? What don't people get? And I had   loved ones remind me that um I I'm not the average  voter because I'm so inundated with this. This is   a passion of mine. Paying attention to these  things matter to me because it's a personal   passion of mine. But as we heard, for a third of  of the vote voting population, independent voters,   they may not be paying attention. And so that's  why it is so concerning to me to make sure that   we are putting this in a position where this  where they can solely focus on this particular   question and issue and educate themselves in  a manner where they show up and they make an   informed decision. Um because whether or not this  passes, my hope is that every single person knows   that we have done our due diligence as a local  municipality to provide space for them to have   clarity and education. Which brings me to the  most recent speaker, Shannon. Um, thank you for   your comments. I am fully supportive of the city  putting together a communication plan and making   sure that we are putting out publicly ways in  which we can engage with the public from this   day moving forward. I believe that two things can  be true and I think you made a good point. We're   so focused on Witchah forward that we are not  focused on what the role of local government is.   Let's remove emotion and look at the facts and  separate Witchah Ford from the local municipality.   In my mind, it is our responsibility to educate  the public on how we got here, the detriment it   will cause if if we find ourselves in a situation  where we don't close these financial gaps. And I   don't think it's fear-mongering. I think it's the  reality. Um, but please know you have my support.   I'll get with the city manager to make sure that  we can get that rolling with the support of my   colleagues. And I also want to acknowledge that  distrust is low and I'm not going to put the blame   on any former council members. It's I'm a part of  this. Um my predecessor did an amazing job. Um I'm   sure I'll make mistakes along the way that will  contribute to that, but I want to take ownership   and acknowledge that there's some loss there, but  I'm committed to making sure that we work together   to rebuild that trust. Good afternoon, Labontto  Williams. And um as you talk about education,   Education is one of the things that I'm  looking at. Educa as a former educator,   you have a community out here that is wondering  what is going on, what should I be looking at,   what's on the table, what are the issues. They are  not educated as to how to move forward. And that   is very very important. Of course, the time frame  is across the board. Uh it was done and it's done   very fast. But education is one of those that is  something that is uh needed to be looked at. Um as   a matter of fact, we're planning something and I  and I hope we go through with that soon. Another   thing that that I'm looking at is if this were to  pass, if this were to pass, I would hope that we   look at it with an equity lens, making sure that  each of our communities have an opportunity to   excel with something that is coming. You're you're  talking about some communities right now that are   living from one paycheck to the other. And as I  talk about equity, I'm talking even about myself   as a senior. as a senior in the city of Witchah,  as a senior who sits on the Department of Aging   board, as a senior who just a while ago was  figuring out how to help our senior community   move from one space to the other. How to make  sure that they have meals coming to their homes,   not just a frozen meal that they have to go  in and unfreeze. We have seniors who live from   social security check to the next social security  check. We have seniors who could at any time be   unhoused. And I want us to make sure that we're  taking that time frame under consideration. I   appreciate the young man earlier talking about  the younger generation. I support that younger   generation wholeheartedly. But I'm asking you to  look at this community as you are looking at us   becoming an agefriendly community. We can't do  that if we're not taking care of the seniors and   those that are elders and those that are almost  there as elders. We've got to take that generation   into consideration. That is the generation that  I hope many of my students are saying that was   my teacher and I'm proud of what she's saying.  That was my teacher and she sat on that bench   and I was proud of what she did. So I'm asking  you to think of us as those 70 80 90 year old   people. 96 is one of the ones that I'm thinking  about right now. And please make sure that they   are educated but that if we want to become an  agefriendly city then think about the aged. Council member Ho Heisel. Thank you mayor. Um and  thank you Miss Williams. It's always a pleasure   to have you up here. Um I we are thinking  of seniors and I've brought this up before   um a report I heard recently about um the  expectation that the number of homeless   seniors is going to double in the next decade.  It's very much on my mind and I appreciate you   bringing it up and I will continue to make  sure that that is a top priority for us. Hello uh mayor, city council, Ted Bush, WTO  firefighters, local 135 president. I just have   a few notes. First, I want to just acknowledge  the citizens that came here. It always makes me   proud to be a WTO and makes me even prouder that  I served them for three years as a firefighter. I   just I'm just this is my home. So, I just  wanted to say listening to these people,   I just had a few notes here. I I just quickly want  to people to understand the critical um place that   the fire department is is in. Um and that it's  hard for me to look in the mirror and know that   I have to wait another day to continue to try to  get these things fixed. We've waited far too long.   I think, you know, the CIP program through the  years has been a, in my opinion, and and trust me,   I it's been clunky, misused, and drawn out capital  improvement program that's delayed so many needed   repairs and upgrades for fire stations. Um,  that firefighters work and live 24 hours a day,   seven days a week, 365 days a year. A third of  their lives are spent in these fire stations.   We have fire stations that leak currently leak  when it rains. And we we have buckets that we   have to put put under the the leaks. We have snow  that blows through windows that were originally   installed in 19 in the 60s. They're still there.  I remember scraping ice next to my bed and putting   a stocking cap on to sleep at night. Uh many of  these stations were designed for fire apparatus   that were built 60 years ago. So the fire station  that housed a fire truck that's 60 years old is   still the same size with fire engines that are  today's size. It doesn't work. It doesn't work for   today's staffing and it doesn't work for today's  equip equipment. We have diesel exhaust extraction   systems that don't work in some stations and  most diesel fumes are cancer-causing. Every time   a firefighter starts the engine, we get exposed  every single time. Every time we come back to the   station, we're exposed every single time. These  things were put in years ago, but never was a   plan to fix them and and maintain them because of  budget. That's that's what I've been told, which   I don't doubt. Every summer and winter, consensus  consistently, we have air conditioners that break,   and firefighters have been subject to sleep in  90°ree temperatures at night trying to get rest   after an alarm. At the same time, firefighters  dealing with an aging fleet apparatus continues   to break down. We had a rescue company  that was broke. The reserve broke. So,   a third of the equipment was on the ground. I  could go on for much more time. All I'm saying,   I I understand everybody's concerns. I really do.  And and they're valid, but these are things that   have to be done now. and and we just can't wait.  Real quick, I had an email from a city council   person I just found today. Seven years ago, I was  talking about these same things. Seven years ago,   I still have the email. Ted, what are you worried  about? It's in the CIP. Those three rebuilds are   going to get done. And here we are, not touched,  not even talked about. once in a while they'll   talk about it. So that's all my concern and  I wanted the citizens to know. Thank you. Good afternoon. Margaret Shabbass, District 6,  11th and Market. Um, thank you, Mayor Liy Woo,   so much for calling this special meeting. Thank  you, Michael, for um, second it and thank you   for also voting for it, Joseph, because our  voices really do need to be heard. This is   being rushed. I won't echo everything that  everybody's been saying um, because they're   all correct. I just want to pull in a few facts,  a few maybe not even well, I think they're facts,   so they're facts in my world. Um, today we just  heard earlier today that the ARPER funds were   accelerated and spent faster than intended. This  money was supposed to go through 2026, but it is   going to run out in September of this year. So by  October, they won't have funding for the shelter. But you guys are asking us to trust you that if  we vote yes on this sales tax that you guys are   going to appropriate and use the money correctly  and make it last. You guys have had meeting after   meeting for a few years over this shelter and  you mean to tell me you guys did not plan on   how you were going to sustain any funding for this  shelter? How did this independent group know that   we were going to run out of money if it wasn't  an inside insider? But you want me to trust you?   You want me to say yes on March 3rd? Spending  $170,000 right now when we're saying that we're   low on money, so we need to fund these things is  ridiculous. We contract out to too many things.   How much are we spending the contractor in a  whole another state to monitor our paid parking?   And how much of a return are we expected  to see on it? Would it have been cheaper   to hire inside? I did a little calculation. If we  hired 40 people per um full-time at $23 an hour,   a livable wage full-time, that comes up  to about 232.3 million. I added about   $5,000 a year per person for benefits. That  came up to $2.5 million a year. That's just   assumptions because I don't know what benefits  really cost, but I put it at a liveable wage.   That was the most important thing. You  guys expect us, we're getting ready. The   fire department needs all this money. We are  cutting 25 million to$ 26 million in interest   rate. Do we really need to spend $9 million  on Douglas right now? Are they more important?   is reducing that street more important than the  fire department. Um spending the paid parking the   $600,000 on the fancy porta pies you guys know  that I love so much. So I mean can I really trust   you guys to put a guardware and put an auditor  out there because we need an auditor right now to   audit these things and put guard rails on these  contractors. We're about to spend $225,000 for   two basketball courts. That's ridiculous.  I just found a lot of money if you ask me. Wow, this is scary. Hi, my name is Olivia Vest.  I am a constituent in Maggie Ballard's districts,   District 6. Um, I would like to clarify that  I'm here in a personal capacity as a citizen   of Witchah. Um, I am gonna read because I'm  really nervous right now, so bear with me. Um,   it's hard to follow an act like Margaret's. Um,  this morning I'm here to, well, afternoon now. I'm   here to do one thing to ask that you repeal this  ordinance and very simply at minimum delay this   vote to August or November. There can be no harm,  literally no harm, that comes from giving voters   more time, more information, more guard rails,  because that's the the big word today, more guard   rails, and more familiar polling locations. I ask  that the council sincerely consider giving back   their allegiance to the citizens of Witchah and  to working people and working families instead of   following through bullheadedly with an expensive  plan that the people do not want. It just doesn't   sit right with the majority of Witchaw citizens.  You've heard from us all today. You've heard from   us repeatedly. And thank you, Mayor Woo, for  giving us this opportunity to say once again,   none of us want this to happen in March. Well,  a few people do. I'd be remiss if I didn't   congratulate you all on one thing. I have never  seen anything more unifying of all sides of the   political spectrum than the poor manner with  which this issue has been handled and rushed   through. All people, all sides, all political  parties and all belief systems have been united   in opposition to the rush that this council has  created to force this vote in March. At such a   politically divisive time, unity, what a gift.  To that end, I ask each of you individually to   listen to all of us now. Please give us more  time. Most importantly, I want to note too   that the method by which this all occurred,  specifically the exclusion of city workers   from this conversation, has been a disservice  to the city and to all of your constituents. Everyone on this bench and in these chambers  drinks our water. All of us use the restroom,   literally every person in this room.  We all drove on roads to get here or   we walked on sidewalks. We're all sitting in  chambers maintained by custodiums custodians   employed by this city too to keep our our  buildings um running properly and clean. We   it people working here today, they they make  these things happen. The people running this   city aren't only the fire department.  They're not only the police department.   You've excluded the largest quantity of city  workers from the conversation and pushing this   through. I think that is shameful. I think  you should truly be ashamed of yourselves. To continue leaving city workers, public service  workers out of these conversations does a   disservice to every citizen of Witchah. And yes,  I am very grateful for the fire department, don't   get me wrong. Um, but I'm most of all grateful for  the city workers that keep our city running. Um,   and I beg of you to in include them in this  conversation as this continues on. Thank you, Council Member Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor. Uh,  thank you, Olivia. You did a great job for your   first time up here. Um, I did have one point  to Margaret. I you're here. Um, thank you as   well for coming up and, uh, sharing your thoughts  with us. Um, just a point about the ARPA funding.   It was always designed to end in September if  I'm not mistaken. Um it was the same thing with   our violence interruptors that we've included  because we have to have the reports done by the   end of the year. So unless I'm mistaken, Troy,  do you have any other information with that? Yeah, you're correct. that the the ARPA  funding has to be spent by December 31st,   2026, but there are also auditing and reporting  that needs to be provided. So much like   uh we have asked of all of our vendors, we're also  internally and I I'll turn to our finance director   uh and our budget office to that that even  applies to all of the other funds that we're   using internally for ARP, but we're trying to get  them spent by September so that we can close out   all the books by the end of the year. Okay. I  just wanted a point of clarification with that. Good afternoon. Uh Chase Bellingham, 256 North  Parkwood. Um I've written extensively about the   sales tax proposal. I think everyone up here has  probably read what I've written and you probably   know how I feel about it. Uh so I'm not here to  talk about the sales tax proposal specifically.   I'm just here to thank the mayor. Uh, I want  to thank the mayor for bravery and leadership   in calling this meeting. It was just late last  week that we all learned that about 10% of all   potential voters in this election uh would face  additional confusion regarding where to vote,   which would inevitably lead to depressed turnout  in this election. Special elections inevitably   have lower turnout than average already, and the  moving of people's polling places was going to   further depress turnout. Uh the mayor did not  spring this on the rest of the council as was   suggested last week. Uh we all learned about it  late last week and she took the action that was   necessary to try to bring this back for further  consideration. Now I certainly trust the election   commissioner that that she and her staff are going  to do everything they can to get everybody out to   the polls. But it is inevitable that when 10% of  the electorate have their polling places moved,   it will lead to depressed turnout. Uh the  mayor saw that. The mayor acted decisively.   Four members of this council didn't want to go  forward with this. Four members of this council   thought it was okay to have further depressed  turnout, but the mayor took this action and on   her own initiative called this meeting.  So, thank you to the mayor for that. Um,   if you want as many Witchans as possible to  have a say about the question of whether they   should pay more for everything they purchase  in this town so that wealthy homeowners and   businesses can contribute less financially to our  collective well-being, um, then you will move the   election to a date when we can guarantee  increased turnout. Thank you to the mayor. Good morning or afternoon now, mayor, vice mayor,  city council. My name is Brock Booker. For the   record, Witchaw City Council District 2. Becky  Tuttle is my city council member. Just a couple   of quick things and I want to be clear um that  I want to be for this um and but quickly some   quick things. Witchah. This proposal is simple to  say 1% sales tax, but it's not that small. It's a   seven-year commitment with the projected revenue  not to exceed $850 million. What does that mean?   1% means at the register $10 purchases or 10  cents more. A $100 purchases could be $1 more.   A $1,000 purchase could mean $10 more. So the  real question is how often and who ends up   paying it. What 850 million over sevenyear might  look like. We've talked about that. Um uh where   the proposal says the money can go and the caps.  Um, but what we'd like to have in writing before   asking families to pay more, I think is a clear  definition of property tax relief. For example,   how many meals are reduced, for how long, and who  benefits, homeowners, renters, etc. Seniors have   been mentioned. A public dashboard that shows in  plane the sales tax collected, sales tax spent,   and project project versus the budget. And  third, strong oversight. The ordinance calls   for an oversight committee within 90 days. If  it passes, meeting at least twice a year and   providing an annual financial audit. That's good,  but it needs real teeth and full transparency.   Lastly, on a single person like me, if you were  to make roughly $51,000 a year, annual household   spending level at a 1% sales tax equals about $510  per year or roughly $4250 a month out of pocket.   That means before we ask families to pay an extra  $500 a year, city hall owes them clear math, clear   timelines, and clear proof that this investment  delivers real results in all of our neighborhoods. Good afternoon. I'm so glad that you folks  are holding this election and uh hopefully   November. And why do I say that? The first thing  to consider is turnout. If you hold this in March,   the estimate from Laura just this morning  was maybe 10%. And you have 10% of the   folks that are going to be disenfranchised  because you're moving polling sites. Plus,   you have $170,000 you're gonna have to spend  just to hold it on the 3rd of March with very   limited turnout. The other point would be  August, as several of you pointed out, hey,   a bunch of folks that are independent aren't going  to think about coming in August. And historically,   we get maybe 25 to 30% of the people to come out.  If we really want to find out what the people of   Witchaw want to know about supporting this sales  tax, he'll move it to November. As Jennifer has   pointed out, as Laura Rainwater pointed out when  she spoke, this is the time when everybody comes   to the poll and you'll get about 60% turnout. Now,  to me, that's really important for each of you to   make that possible. So you'll hear from the whole  community and it actually gives an added advantage   to both sides, the no and the yes, because each of  them will have an opportunity to use these months   to try to educate each other on why they should  vote one way or the other. And that informed   voter is what you want coming to the poll. It's  really important that this be done right. And I   really congratulate Lily. Thank you so much as  mayor for speaking up and saying we want to hear   from the public. I want to point out one thing  that all of us have heard from our grandparents.   I learned this as a young boy. Waste not one not  that $170,000 is money that could be used to help   pay debts and costs at the homeless shelter.  that opportunity to make sure everybody has   a chance to vote. As you point out, Mr. Shepard,  you have a lot of folks that are disenfranchised   if they don't come to the right poll. And if  they're independent, you hold it in August,   then you're in the same boat. A lot of folks  won't even show up. So, please move it to   November. Please do this right. Don't just rush  this through. Let's have an educated vote. and   I appreciate your time very much for having this  opportunity for us to speak. God bless all of you. Hello council. It's nice to see all of you  again. Start off. Thank you, Mayor Woo,   for giving us this chance to speak um opening  the door to the having these conversations,   continued conversations, and the opportunity to  push this back so that we have um time to get   voters where they need to be. My name is Dr. Donna  Castillo Garcia. You are all familiar with me, but   for those who don't, I work in the homelessness  sector. I am um content expert at uh outreach   and services. We are uniquely poised to give a  voice to people who are really intersected in this   issue. Those that are coming out of homelessness  and those who are the lowest earners trying to   make ends meet. Um this is going to hit all of us  very hard, including myself. I'm a family of eight   and we have foster children. We know exactly  how much it costs to get groceries and to feed   everyone and to pay for this and how it's going to  hit us. But we know also what can happen when we   come together as a community. And this 1% is not  a bad idea when it comes to things like paying   for our fire services, paying for homelessness  services. Those are things that we really really   need. And I'm hearing a lot of concern about  things that maybe we don't need that are being   attached to things that we do. That to me feels  as a private citizen just saying it. It's kind   of I don't want to lose the things that we really  need because we're attaching them to things that   we don't. So spreading it up, talking about this,  having um clear what are we going to do and when.   And I know that from my conversations with the COC  and the city departments, especially in housing,   that there are some good frameworks that are  already in place that the community needs to know   about in order for things this important to get  passed. And I love the opportunity to be able to   have time to explain that and to build trust with  the community as it should be. I see that you are   all sitting on this board trying to make up for  things that have happened in our And that is what   us, our generation, our citizens are supposed to  be doing. Now, at this point, I'm happy to stand   with you in this place. I'm happy to support a  1% sales tax that goes to homelessness and goes   to fire. And I hope that we can vote on this  all together coming up in August. Thank you. Good afternoon all. My name is Larry Burke,  Senior. I live at 1131 North Glennmore Court   here in the city of Witchaw, Kansas. I just want  to share uh to the council um uh the fact that I   want to thank you all for taking this measure to  give us an opportunity to talk about and provide   input on this issue. This is something that's  very critical. Anything that talks about funding,   especially as this case concerns taxpayer dollars  that impact uh the folks in the city of Witchah,   it's a concern that all of us need to be aware  of. uh as you notice the people that are in this   room uh and I will share just for me for example I  represent not only myself as an individual citizen   but I am I'm the president for the Witchaw branch  of the NAACP and I represent a constituents of   people within this city and I have an obligation  and a concern to make sure that those people that   are part of our organization and part of our  community are aware of the importance of this   and they look to us to ensure that whatever  information we can bring back to that body. We   bring that back with clarity and preciseness.  And all we're asking this this council,   our city to do basically is make sure that going  forward and I do in fact support a delay of this   for the cost-saving measures number one, but also  to give you all an opportunity to make sure that   all the information that needs to be disseminated  about every aspect of this is is put out so that   we will have an informed electorate. I think  that's going to be one of the most important   things that happens as a part of this because  when we talk about spending our money on things,   you know, people want to know that it's going  to be going towards something that's going to   benefit them. Uh and uh it's it's it's critical  uh for their understanding of all. So I want to   thank you for the opportunity to be able to  speak, but I want to also request that as we   move forward this this I know I support of course  the delay, but also in conjunction with that,   let us be more informative. We have to do  PSAs or whatever the case may be from this   body to ensure that the people of Witchah, the  citizens of Witchah understand what's going on   with this issue so we can have a more informed  electorate and be able to for them to to make a   informed decision choice when it comes to the  vote. Thank you so very much for your time. Hi, it's me again. My name is Sarah. I'm uh 2116  South Cica. Um I'm home still. I just want to say   good morning to all y'all. And it never fails  whenever I have something. Me and Donna weren't   always on the same page. And then I followed this  gentleman and basically I wanted to come to you   guys saying the thing he had to say is you know  you know I believe that um I think the 1% you know   a lot of us like 1% and when it's a number and  people feel like it's being imposed on their taxes   there it's automatic there's that apprehension and  I just think that like if people actually realized   how much the increase is without them knowing  that like I I don't know how many times I went to   the grocery store the other day and like food is  twice as much and like it had increased without us   knowing, you know, the 1% is one cent on a dollar.  And if we know what that money is going towards,   I think that's a great way to start doing things.  You know, like I think whether or not it's for the   homeless or it's for the city arts, I think all  of it's valid. And I think a lot of the things   that we have in Witchaw, we all I've been around  here for a while and I've been so many different   places and I've heard so many people speak on so  many things that are the same thing. they're just   said different ways. You know, we all want things  that are great for our city, but we not maybe not   agree everything that is great for our city. So,  I think waiting till August and maybe having more   information and I think going forward, I'd like  to see more community outreach is like if people   knew that they could come up here and speak about  what they want, I I would hope that more people   would. you know, you guys have been great about  listening and I'm learning to speak a little bit   better every time. You know, I've had like with uh  Glass Dalton coming down and like the animal board   and knowing that like this city can be great.  You know what? I've had difficulty my kids,   I'm able to make changes for them. I can't fix  the things that I've been through, but I can   fix the things that they're going to have to go  through. So maybe a little bit more education on   like this 1%. Hey, 1% is one cent, but that one  cent can mean a million dollars in your future,   you know. And I just thank you for being here. And  I would like if you guys could like put that pause   on with more public information. Um maybe I'd like  to see a transparency board where where things can   be conveyed to different people, different  ways that they speak and maybe That's it. Hello, council. Joseph Texas, district one  advisory board chair and I'm a Republican precinct   chair in one of the precincts that were affected  with the voting location change. Um, I appreciate   the and respect the mayor for calling this and I  thank her for this for the public input. I also   recognize that I feel like this is a bit of damage  control too. Um, and the opportunity of the the   voting change gives this third opportunity for  the council to do the right thing because it's   about good politics and good policy lining up and  we all want to see which succeed and we've heard   a lot of points made and one of the things I new  council member um Shepard mentioned how well how   can what we can do right now at our last AB and  the problem is the language is already codified   for what's going to a vote because one of the  things we bring up is maps and I mentioned it   before But those voters voted on a simple sentence  which was to say yes or no to an ordinance that   the city council passed which included everything  in detail. And those details included an oversight   committee in language, ballot language with  subcommittees for each of the buckets with experts   on those subcommittees and teeth. And I know folks  say we are we just want to trust council to do it,   but y'all aren't going to be here always and you  won't be here always as well, mayor. And y'all   could put ordinance forward now after the fact,  but it's what the voters pass that stays concrete   and another mayor can change the buckets and  there's no minimums in that as well. And as long   as it's not in writing in what they're voting on,  that is a real concern. And the reason Oklahoma   City has been successful with their accountability  and they still had tons of political debates even   with clear language is because they took the the  power and put it into the people's vote into the   buckets specifically with specific goals down to  the parks exact parks and projects they're doing   over a 30-year period four different times where  there's a year and a half uh period of public   discourse before the language even goes to a vote.  the idea that we would have a single public forum   and I understand uh council member Glascock said  that the ballot language came really late in the   process from staff but y'all have a fiduciary  responsibility I don't put it on the developers   who are in the business world to think to know  every all the workings of county city politics   I put it on y'all to protect the taxpayers and the  idea that we'd have one single public forum where   there were only questions no comments on what even  the language could be for a down for what could be   an offcycle election ction and our city council  elections in Texas were always uniform local.   I understand the low turnout. I understand the  strategies around that. That that is unacceptable.   So y'all now have the opportunity a third time to  to do the damage and control do this right. And I   actually think um a vision of a fullyear process  in getting input and maybe coming back with a two   to three year program, a single program, something  tangible. We can figure this out because right now   we got nuts and bolts from the FDR New Deal  administration on our current water facility.   The idea of getting into a new raw deal that  future councils could have to put up with and   contend with is unacceptable. And I thank you all  for hearing the public today and taking action. I see no one else who would like to speak to the  council. Uh thank you to the 22 individuals who   spoke during public comment. Um, I appreciate each  of you for sharing your thoughts, your concerns,   and also addressing the council. Uh, we will now  close public comment and bring it back to the   bench. As you all know, this special meeting  is called uh specifically to delay this vote   uh instead of the March election to the  August 4th primary. Um, and so if there   are no other individuals on the council who  would like to speak, and now I see some, um,   I will be moving an item. Council member Shepard.  Thank you, Mayor. I have a question for legal and   city manager. We heard today that there needs to  be more opportunity for public engagement and to   educate the public and to educate the public  on the specific unique needs of the community.   But I also believe that as a local government,  what I've heard is that we need to do a better   job of opening the doors of city hall to create  more transparency. Um, the mayor has the ability   to call a town hall. We each as council members  have the ability to open the doors of city hall,   too. What's the process of codifying that, making  sure that that's a part of this process regardless   of how the vote goes today? When you say process,  just general of count calling town halls. Uh,   specifically, I would like to know if it needs  to be a resolution for the mayor or for the city   council to hold a certain amount of town halls  or open opportunities for the public to engage   to understand the the nuances in where we are as a  local municipality that led us to this point. Um,   council member, there is nothing in the city code  right now that talks about town halls. City can   decide to do that um as it wishes. Um, there is  always the dis opportunity for the city council to   adopt ordinances to impose duties on itself. It's  just a policy decision and if council wants to do   something, it can codify it by ordinance or for  more short-term um statements of intent, it can   adopt a resolution. And I would suggest um council  member one thought is that I know the district   advisory board level has been a lot of the um  opportunity to share information if you want   to have on the agenda of future district advisory  board meetings we can ask to have that placed on   there. Um so we can ask certainly I can guide and  direct and same as you with your district advisory   board meetings but if you want to put something  through resolution that's always an option. I   think district advisory boards are great. Um I  guess my question is for the mayor if I may. Are   you committed to working with each of the council  members to create town halls in each of our   district to ensure the public has an opportunity  to not just engage on this particular matter but   other matters and way that we can operationalize  the in the internal um operations of city hall   better. I think we heard a lot today about things  that are on the hearts and minds of citizens that   are related to the sales tax. Um, but one of the  things that I think we can do better is mobilizing   why things work the way they do. Uh, we've heard a  lot today in my opinion that um, from the average   voter perspective is fair to think and or say, but  I would also argue that until we create a unique   opportunity to educate why we can't just move  funds around or what we have done in the past to   try to close the gap on some of these issues, um,  then we've not done our due diligence on trying to   educate. So, would you be committed to doing that?  I'm happy to kick off as district one and working   with you. I've always been uh ready and able to  participate in any town halls. Um my intention   even from becoming mayor has been to help educate  how local government works. Um and if you recall,   I think someone uh today, I think it was Celeste,  who brought um the pamphlet that simply explains   how our city government works. It's not partisan.  It's simple information and oftentimes it's new   information for a lot of residents. And so I'm  very grateful to see uh individuals who identified   themselves as I'm part of district 1 through  six. Um when we had your swearing in ceremony   this week, I asked the community, can you please  raise your hand if you live in district 1 through   six? That has not been the norm. And I understand  that we have a responsibility from this bench to   help explain how local government works. And so I  am always ready and available to be at town halls   to consider hearing more feedback. As a matter  of fact, last year we had a town hall with three   different governing bodies, the city council, the  Cedric County Commission, and USD259. And I expect   those to continue this year. So, I am always  able and excited about any additional public   engagement. Council member T. Thank you. Um and  and this topic will be at my district advisory   board meeting this evening. So, um anybody of  course is welcome if they want to join us at   six o'clock. We're at Rockwell Branch Library and  our new city manager will be there as well. So,   I appreciate that. I have a question for Mark. Uh  Mark, if you wouldn't mind. I kind of have some   questions and some comments um based on speakers  and and if this has been addressed I'm sorry. I'm   trying to take notes and to keep up and you know  every all the things. Um but one of the things   that I heard from a few of the speakers was the  cost of the special election $150,000 and now we   know it's $20,000 more to inform residents um  of the location changes. Would it be possible?   So when the s sales tax money is collected and it  goes into our coffers, I'm assuming interest will   be earned on that. Is that an assumption? Well, uh  actually my understanding is that we would acrew   any interest to the project buckets. Okay. That  we would or would not would that we would So I'm   wondering if we could I'm just asking a question  and I don't like to brainstorm from the bench. Um,   but I'm going to in this case just because I think  it it could maybe work. But could we commit or or   think about having some of use interest to offset  the cost retroactively for the election? I don't   think there's anything in the referendum that  would permit us to use any of the dollars for   administrative costs. Okay. Just wanted to make  sure. I was just kind of thinking out loud. Um,   and then one thing that and thank you Mark. That's  all I have for you. I really appreciate it. Thank   you. Um, one some one of the speakers did mention  that um on the the ballot um that people wouldn't   know what the categories were and so just wanted  to clarify that on the ballot and Sharon if I'm   wrong tell me on this one that on the ballot it  will state the five different categories and how   much is allocated for each one right? Yes. So so  folks who are voting will be able to do that. Um   I have a few other comments but I'll I'll wait  and see what my other colleagues have to say.   Thank you. Council member John Stunn. Thank you,  Mayor. Um, first of all, I want let people know   that sales tax on food, I'm totally against it on  food. So, I think it's very important. I think,   uh, Mike's brother's helping with that. I  think we have some support for that. So,   uh, I think it's very important. To be technical,  you would not eliminate the sales tax on food.   You just bring the rate to zero. So, it's a  technicality, but we can still get there. So,   that is important. Um, the other thing important  for me, and we've heard a lot of math today,   and some of it's right, and some of it is not  correct. Um, but for me, the math on the on the   uh second light and homeless is very important.  Um, and and for affordable housing, too. Um this   is where the timing election is very important.  A second light will run out of money in October,   end of September, October. These are ARP dollars  the city gave uh them to get it going. It's   costing them about I just got this from the board  chair. Uh 300,000 to $315,000 a month to operate.   Could go as high as 350 in future dates. They  soon be adding additional services and people   and get people housed. It will also provide a fund  for affordable housing that has yet to be vetted   on how it works. This is very important to me. If  we push the election to August and it passes both,   we will not begin collecting sales tax until  January 1st, 2027. And the first check will not   be given to the committee until March Mark told  me earlier March 25th. Uh typically when they   send the checks. So three months later, 90 days  as he stated earlier. That's a 300 to $315,000   gap with no financing. How are we going to cover  this? That's $1.8 8 to2 million gap that they're   going to need to operate in the coldest months  of this coming year. Do we cut public safety?   I don't think anybody on this bench would wants  to do that. Do we cut roads? People don't want to   do that. I can just tell you that. Do we Do we cut  libraries? Do we cut parks and wreck? I don't want   to do that either. So, the money's got to come  from somewhere. As you, as you heard earlier,   it's not in our budget as of right now. Uh, the  county has indicated they're not interested in   funding it. The state has no interest in funding  it, even though cities from all over Kansas are   sending their homeless to Witchah. And the state  does not want to help us. I think that's wrong. So again, where's the money come from? It  comes from the city. It comes from you,   the taxpayers. That's where it comes from. That$1.8 to $2 million is going to come from somewhere. If we invest, and  I know it's a chance, but if we invest $170,000   now, we can get that funded when they need it.  If we don't, it's going to be over a year from   now before those funds come in at the earliest,  the end of March 2027. There will be a $2 million   deficit. The whole homeless thing and housing is  very very important to me and we need to find a   way to fund it. This is a way to fund it and this  is an opportunity to fund it. I don't know where   the gap is going to get filled from the city  budget. Maybe we can figure it out. I guess $2   million is not that much money, right? But I think  this is an opportunity for us to take action and   make it happen. 4 secondond light and and really  make a difference in our community for the very   least of our community. Thank you, Council Member  Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor. I'm just sharing my   thoughts here. Um when this first came up, I did  try to delay. Um I did not have support and so   um I do try to remain consistent. That will  affect um that will be part of my vote later.   But I also did vote for March 3rd and I do stand  by that decision as well regardless of how much   um flack we got for that because we need to have  this discussion. The points up here today are all   very valid. The points in the audience are  also very valid. We do need to get ahead of   um some of the deferred maintenance. All of  the deferred maintenance with fire and WPD   fire stations and fire engines. We also do need to  address the affordable housing crisis and the one   that will be expanding in the future. Um, and it's  not hard to look around and see how the um the   homeless issue is affecting a lot of the people  in our community and how we truly can help them.   I I think the workshop's going to go a long way  towards addressing a lot of these questions and   I would like to see um the guard rails of holding  our feet to the fire as strong as possible. So,   uh to Texas point um ordinances where it's um  applicable as well. That way the community has   that trust that we are being held to our word as  far as how we spend um spend the money that as it   does come in. So again, I just wanted to provide  a little bit of background about how my vote has   been informed over here. Um this is a discussion  we do need to have as a community. We have big   problems as a community and we need to be able  to come together and talk these issues out. I   did feel like this is rushed. That was one of the  two main concerns I had um early in this process.   Um but in the end, we need to see the good in  each other and we need to see the good in the   community and we need to have these discussions  and do it as a open and transparent way as we   possibly can. Council member Shepard, thank you  so much, Mayor. I do want to take a moment to   clarify my comments earlier about making sure that  we are committed to opening the doors of city hall   and creating more unique opportunities that are  intentionally designed for the public to learn   about where we are as a city and how we got here.  What I continue to hear today and what I've heard   um in the community is that a lot of people don't  understand the inner workings of city hall. That's   not a slight on anyone up here. I think everyone  up here cares about the community and they're   doing an amazing job of reaching people when they  can. My colleague here mentioned that tonight   at her district advisory board, there'll be an  opportunity to engage with the city manager. At   our district advisory board breakfast in February,  the city manager will also be at district 1. I   think these are great and unique opportunities  that have existed for a very long time.   I think what I've heard from the community today  is do more, do it differently and try to reach   people in places that traditionally we are not  reaching them. And so I'm asking on all of us to   do that because I really do think we have a unique  opportunity to educate the public by doing that.   Um I also want to follow council member Hohisel  and taking just a moment to really um mobilize   my opinion and I want to thank every single  person for coming here today. Please know that my   intention in voting yes uh to hold this meeting is  because I don't believe there is ever such a thing   as too much public engagement when it comes to  local government. We need to engage as much as we   can as often as we can which is why I get my cell  phone number out uh because I want people to call   and text whenever they have questions or whenever  they have a concern. I've heard from residents   particularly those disproportionately impacted by  polling locations and disproportionately impacted   in district 1. That's why I immediately began  working with community partners to ensure that   reliable transportation to the polls beyond free  transit options were going to be available. Um,   while some say that decisions were made before  I arrived to this position, I take a different   leadership stance. I'm here now and I don't  care who made the decisions. I don't care how   we got to this point. What I do know, it is now  my responsibility to work with the community and   the colleagues regardless of who is responsible or  when those decisions were made. The folks up here,   they're my team now and you all are a part of  that team as well. And I'm responsible for my own   vote and I'm responsible for the decisions that I  make. With that said, I want no surprises. I will   not be in support of delaying this vote today.  Mayor, this issue is important. It deserves the   full attention of voters and the research that  has convinced me says that placing measures on   crowded ballots leads to choice fatigue and voter  abstension. Um again, I know we need to do better   um addressing the needs of our city. I believe  that's the job of local government. That's not   the job of Witchah Ford. It is our responsibility  to share the perspective and information that's   available vote both from the vote no campaign and  from Witchaw Ford and present the facts to provide   opportunities for the public to know where we are.  I also want to acknowledge that a sales tax is   not perfect has nothing to do with who is leading  the sales tax here but a sales tax in general is   not perfect but it is an opportunity to address  the urgent needs. I mean, when I have met with   departments, again, I am incredibly grateful for  the work that our staff and departments are doing,   but it is not sustainable and it has not been  sustainable for a while, and it's going to cost   lives if we don't do something immediately. I'm  committed to partnering with organizations. I'm   committed to partnering with our city manager and  the entirety of our staff to create meaningful   opportunities for public education. But once  again, I'm calling on the mayor to work with me,   to work with all of our colleagues to work on  contingency plans that clearly outlines what   happens and what is at stake if we approve  or reject this measure in March. Between now   and election day, please know this. You have my  commitment to engage. I don't care. Call me, stop   by city hall. I'll be out at coffee shops. If you  see me out, let's engage on ways in which we can   utilize the potential long-term savings within the  CIP to ensure that residents have a voice and that   these savings are going to meaningful projects  that you all want to see in your community. I also   would like to ask for folks to join me in district  one, especially uh the parts of my district that   are most impacted by polling locations to  knock the doors to educate the citizens on the   opportunities that we've created to ensure that  there is reliable transportation, not just through   free transit, but through the community engagement  that we are creating to make sure that there's   transit available, too. The goal here should  be simple. to do our due diligence, to educate,   to reach people where they are, to get outside of  our ivory tower, and to let them know that their   voice matters in this critical decision regardless  of where they stand. Thank you, Vice Mayor Glasco.   Thank you, Mayor. Before I talk about my vote, I  want to acknowledge something real. There is loss   and there is distrust. People have been let down  before and I've been let down before. And in many   ways, that's why I chose to be in this seat as  well. I believe democracy depends on hard people   asking hard people asking hard questions and  demanding transparency and that accountability   makes this institution better. And I welcome  it and I welcome every single person that spoke   today as well. I hope you choose to apply for the  oversight board and hold us accountable because I   believe that that is good governance. Many of the  challenges that we're facing today were set in   motion long before any of us took our seats. But  as Councilman Shepard had said, the responsibility   still rest with us. Our job is to reform what  isn't working, to rebuild trust where it's broken,   and I know that's our toughest job, and to move  this city forward. We inherit systems, but we're   judged by how we choose and what we choose to do  with them. And leadership is not about waiting for   the perfect conditions or unanimous comfort. It's  about weighing real trade-offs and acting when we   know that an action carries a higher cost. And  in action will carry us a higher cost. This plan   matters um and means fewer days for firefighters  to be in aging and unsafe stations than most the   time they work in those facilities every single  delay. Delay also has real financial consequences.   There are no general fund dollars set aside for  many of our investments, including $4 million   for Second Light. And postponing only pushes those  costs further into the future when we can save on   uh deferred or on um deferred maintenance costs  when we're talking about fire, when we're talking   about harder choices in the future because of an  action today. And there are rare times that we   have 7 to vote on this council. We don't even get  that on a budget. And so to show unimity and that   we believe that there is real problems facing  our community and that we need to take action.   I believe that's a statement from this bench that  we all realize there are real challenges and we we   all need to do a better job at communicating that  to the public. And so I encourage residents to   come and join us on January 27th. Learn more, ask  questions. My email is dglasscock witchaw.gov. I'd   be more than happy to answer any questions. I've  never said no to a meeting. I've never said no to   a coffee. and my doors are open at city hall every  single day. I also didn't reach this conclusion   lightly. I toured our fire stations with Ted just  a few weeks ago. I walked around Centry with uh   two with John three weeks ago. I rode along with  our police officers just last Sunday. And I spent   time as homeless encampments with Sarah and Dr.  Donna, listening to people with lived experiences,   including people in our encampment near um the  drive-in that have lived in those places for   more than 14 years. For 14 years, we've let  citizens live in conditions without providing   adequate resources. And that's unacceptable. And I  believe that in action doesn't make these problems   smaller. I respect residents who disagree with me.  And good faith disagreement is part of governing   well, but leadership requires us to be honest  about what the cost of delay would be. As I said   in my vice mayor speech, Witchdaw was not built by  people who said no. It was built by people willing   to act, to take responsibility and also invest in  the future and it matter. And for those reasons,   I'm voting no on delay and I'm voting yes  on letting Witchens decide. Council member   Tuttle. Thank you. And and just to be clear,  at my district advisory board this evening,   not only will city manager Marshall be there,  but Witchah Forward will be there. Yeah. So, just   wanted to make sure Okay. Um, so couldn't agree  more. Um, one of the things that I just wanted   to mention and I've said this several times from  the bench and so this was part of my rationale is   my consistency is when we have discussed economic  development tools and we have a property owner,   a business who wants to come to us and they work  with Troy and his team and they want to develop   economic development tools and we set them through  the process. Then um the they come to us and they   have to meet certain criteria and it's reviewed  by an outside party and and all the things and and   sometimes from this bench we have tried to change  the process. We've said, "Well, we want them to   have a little more of this and a little more of  that." And over the years, I have consistently   said, "We can't change the rules in the middle of  the game." And I feel like today, having a delay   in this is changing the rules in the middle of  the game for both parties, for the vote yes side   and the vote no side. I know the vote no side has  a very robust campaign going on. Congratulations   and and I wish you the best. I know the vote yes  team has a very robust campaign campaign going on.   Again, I wish you the best. I love the fact that  people are so concerned and so interested in this.   And I would be more concerned if there wasn't a  divide in some way. What I like so far is that   I see the divide is still respectful. People are  coming to us and being respectful. I think all the   speakers who came here today at one point there  were 236 people watching online. I appreciate   that as well. The emails that we're receiving,  the calls and texts, the grocery store meetings   that happen, all of that I think is part of the  process. But for me, I want to make sure that I   am consistent in once we put something in motion,  we don't change the rules of the game. The other   thing that's very important to me and several  of you mentioned it and and um a couple folks   have left, but the fact that polling places are  going to be changed and that is an issue um and   we want to make sure that everybody has the right  to vote. It's been something that I've been very   passionate about for more than a decade and worked  on the initiative of making sure that people know   the importance of voting. Um but I have the utmost  confidence in our insurance commissioner. She came   here today. She's wonderful. She has an amazing  team and so I have confidence that her and her   team will do everything they can to make sure  everyone is informed and knows when and where   to vote. So with that, I will not be supportive of  delaying this ballot item until August. Thank you, Council Member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. Um a lot  of my colleagues have already shared um questions,   concerns that they all are uh thinking on on the  forefront of their minds as well. Um I certainly   don't think that this plan is perfect. Um but the  issues and projects that are being discussed have   been discussed for years. Um I want to say that  our city has expanded about 50 to 60 miles wide.   We've added no new fire trucks and five personnel  in the last several decades. That is extremely   unsafe and irresponsible in my mind. We know  that um in Council Member Glascock's um district,   we're working on our first uh fire station since  2009. And I think just a quick Google, our our um   uh population in Witchah has grown over a 100,000  people. and we have not um we just extended out   but we haven't necessarily added the resources  that go along with it. So um I also agree with uh   council member Tuttle talking about consistency  and and council member Hohisel as well. Uh just   in December we we voted to put this uh vote in the  hands of the public 70. Uh, so sounds like there's   been some some change of hearts and I appreciate,  you know, everyone that came to to speak today.   We've gotten several emails. Uh, people spoke  at my dab last night. I have a coffee coming up   on the 24th. We will have representation from  Witchaw Forward there. Uh, and then I know in   Benjamin Hills there's a meeting on the 20th where  there'll be representation there as well. So,   I would ask any of the neighborhood associations,  call a meeting, reach out to your council member,   ask us to bring someone from Witchaw forward there  to ask all of your questions, and I won't leave at   7:00 when the meeting says it's from 6:00 to 7:00.  I will be the last person standing there to answer   all of the questions. We we are there to provide  answers for all of you. So, I know there's still a   lot of unanswered questions. I would encourage all  of you to um pay attention all the way through.   Make sure that you're holding us accountable,  but more than anything, go vote. Whenever the   vote happens to be, participate. If you don't  agree with it, vote no. If you agree with it,   vote yes. I'm disappointed that the splitting it  up into individual votes didn't pass. It failed   four to three or three to four. Um, I think  that was a good way to allow the public to   prioritize some of these uh initiatives that  are uh going to be placed on the ballot. So,   with that, I will not be uh supportive  of delaying uh the election till August, which leaves it to me. Um, like I all always  have said, it's important for us to engage   our community and we were elected by you, the  community. And when there's new information   that is presented to a council, I believe it's  prudent for us to pause or have a discussion as   we've done today. I still am uncomfortable with  the lack of guard rails. However, January 27th,   we are to have a full workshop regarding just  the sales tax, the five buckets and guard   rails. I will also ask that that workshop will  allow for public comment. that is not customary   for workshops but I want to make sure that the  community would have that opportunity to speak.   I also see the passion of the individuals both  currently in favor and not in favor of a sales   tax. I want to say thank you to each of you for  passionately sharing the reason why. Many of you   have said it's because it's rushed because it  lacks detail and that detail is going to come   January 27th. However, I also understand that  it does need more time. It needs time. It needs   time to breathe. It needs time to regain the trust  that as a body, whether it was from this council,   previous council's past leadership, that has been  lost and we must rebuild and regain that trust.   And so I'm asking that we as a community really  have these conversations of how do we move our   community forward together? What are things that  are important to us? I hear that it is costly to   live in our community. I help my parents do those  budgets. I know I also see our homeless population   in our core and also in the outsides of the core  of Witchah, which is why this council voted 70   to help with Second Light with the shelter and  services in one location. I also understand that   over the years maintaining what we have has not  been priority number one, but it has with this   council. We've talked about it. We share our  discussions from this bench publicly and you   know how I feel about maintaining what we have.  So with that, I will still say that it is in the   best interest to wait until August to have this  election. But if this fails, I ask that each of   you being engaged will come back on January 27th  and share what guard rails must be in place so   that this is in the best interest of all of this  community. So with that, I want to move a motion. I move to declare the existence of a  public emergency and pass the ordinance   on a single reading repealing ordinance 52-866  calling for a special election on March 3rd,   2026 in order to move the election to  August 4th, 2026. Second motion and   a second. Any further discussion? I see  none. Madame Clerk, please open the role. Motion fails 5 to two. With that, I will again remind the community  that we do have the January 27th workshop.   It will now have public comment. Um, and I have  council members who would like to speak. Council   member Hoheisle. Thank you, Mayor. I just want  to reiterate the point that I made earlier that   the reason I did vote for it to be on the the  March 3rd is because I do believe this community   deserves to have a chance to have this discussion.  These are big issues that we are facing. Um the   process is not perfect, but we do have ample  opportunity over the next month and a half to   really engage the community to answer questions  and to make this process as strong as possible.   So again, the 27th of January, we'll be having  the workshop. We plan on talking at length about   the CIP, which is one of the most important things  on here. We must support police and fire and the   deferred maintenance that we have on many of  the buildings, and also and most importantly,   I believe, homelessness and affordable housing.  These these discussions are important that we   get this figured out so we know how to plan  and budget moving forward. They are important   for our community moving forward. Um we see what  other communities are able to do with affordable   housing funds and funding for programs like Second  Light. So please please stay engaged. Let's have   an honest open discussion and let's all try to  come together and make the best decisions moving   forward for our city that we possibly can. Council  member Ballard. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted   to have a quick conversation about the public  comment. I am all in on allowing public comment   um anytime for that matter. But I don't know  that I like the um only allowing 3 minutes over   five just because we ask and are constantly  encouraging people to participate and I don't   want to seem even if they are repeating um I want  to give people the full five minutes and not seem   inconvenienced um by cutting their time short. So  I don't know how my colleagues feel about that. Um   I would like to give them the full five minutes.  um we want as many people to participate as   possible and I just don't want to shortcut people  on time. So just wanted to put that out there and   see how my colleagues I actually would um ask for  a friendly conversation about that since there   are five buckets and I really believe people will  have more comments about each of the specific of   the five. This would allow each of the individuals  to speak up to five times if we limit it to three   minutes, but focus it on if we talk about bucket  one. Now, let's open it up for public comment.   Let's talk about bucket two, open it up for public  comment. And I believe that a threeminut versus   five minute, then we'll allow for more opportunity  for discussion. Um, I would ask if that would be   uh something council members would be in favor  of. I agree with council member Ballard uh that I   wish it would have been a decision from the bench  um and a council decision instead of a decision   through the mayor today to allow five minutes  for comment. So I agree with council member   Ballard and I'm just going to chime in quick. I  um sent a email to uh city manager legal comms   and all of us at 110 saying um how did we get to  five minutes and I don't think one of us can make   that decision. It needs to be a council decision.  So, how are we going to move forward with deciding   it's three or five minutes? So, I think that, you  know, anytime that we decide public engagement,   it should be a council decision. So, I'm  very curious and and interested and having   the conversation. So, thank you for bringing  it to our attention, Council Member Ballard. So, do I have anyone in favor of having five  separate buckets of public engagement or just   one area of public engagement and just keeping it  at five minutes? I I would like to address that.   That's why I'm on the board, actually. Um, if we  do that, we're going to have a 10-hour meeting,   10, 11 hour meeting. Um, which we've done before  and we've all survived. Um, but I'm not sure   that's in the best interest of people because  you only have a certain amount of time where   you really are at your peak as far as engagement.  So, I think that's a factor. I would rather see   uh present all five buckets at once and then allow  public comment for five minutes. I I think that's   the way to go because usually people will have one  specific uh item that they're interested in and   they can comment on that item and address it. Um,  some people will comment on all five just because   you can and which is fine, but I just I just think  for u somewhat of a more efficient process. Um,   it doesn't mean it's worse. Efficiency does not  mean worse. Efficiency actually usually means   better. So, I I think we should present all five  of them, then then let people comment publicly.   Council Member Shepard, I really appreciate  this conversation because I think it goes back   to what I mentioned earlier that we have to begin  engaging the public prior to January 27th. And I   agree with Council Member Johnston that it it may  present an opportunity for a meeting to run long,   which I think we're all in for. You all certainly  are. You've been up here um several times before.   Um, but I also know what that does not  just to the staff, not only to council,   but also to individuals who may be taking time um  out of their schedules off of work to show up to   comment on a m on a matter that matters. Um, I  would offer that uh we work with city staff to   present town halls on those specific topics so  we can get public engagement on those particular   topics. and then still have the workshop on the  27th and those who wish to continue to come and   comment on that for five minutes can as well. But  I think the more engagement, the more education,   the better. May May I offer another suggestion?  Um I just don't think we can have one presentation   and have comment and not not change it per the  per the comments. So, if you do have town halls,   you're still going to have one presentation. Um,  possibly another idea might be to have that one   presentation, have public comment, come back a  week or two later and have another presentation,   a revised presentation. Um, and then have  public comment again because I I think we   can have all town halls and everybody can  go speak for five minutes and we can not   accomplish anything. I want to accomplish  something and move it forward. So I think   if we do have a presentation, we get public  comment, we bring it back, we redo it again,   then we we present it again, have public comment  again. I I think that would be a better formula. C Vice Mayor Glosscock, I would be in favor of that. Um, I think that  that that the workshop on January 27th will   still require more fine-tuning and I believe  that we should put it on the calendar then   instead of just saying sometime we'll talk  about this after the January 27th workshop.   I would like to see whatever revisions um were  suggested to come back two weeks later and have   another sales tax and the five buckets and  the guard rails that have been proposed from   the January 27th meeting. So I don't know what  that date would be, but this two weeks after we don't have an extra week in  January, do we? No, that's too bad. We don't have a 2026 schedule. We might work  on a 2026 schedule for the council meetings,   too. Okay. So, I have heard from this  council, and it looks like everyone's just   in favor of just the regular five minutes  after the presentation of the sales tax   um at the January 27th meeting. In addition,  we will have a follow-up um meeting two weeks   after the January 27th sales tax workshop for  further fine-tuning of those guardrails. I I   would suggest we keep that meeting agenda short  so we have plenty of time for that if that's   possible on the 10th. I I like the suggestion  that council member Ballard mentioned. She said,   "Can it be an evening meeting?" And I have heard  from individuals who have said obviously we can't   make it during uh daytime uh because we're  working. Could it be possibly whether it's   two weeks or three weeks an evening time so that  more individuals can be uh participating in that?   You know we've started at 9ine and we've had an  evening meeting because we ended at se after 7. Would anyone be in favor of having an evening  meeting on this? Yes. Yes, that's fine. Okay. So,   I will direct staff to find an evening time uh two  to three weeks after the January 27th meeting. So,   it will allow um individuals who would  like to come and share their thoughts   during an evening time. And maybe we don't  do that on Tuesday. I don't know. Mayor,   may I clarify? Is this a special meeting  in addition to the regularly scheduled   council meetings? on the 10th. We don't  have our calendars here. These are still   from 2025. February 10th. We have a regular  council meeting on Tuesday, February 10th. So, we can have the regularly scheduled February  10th council meeting and then in the evening we   will only talk about one topic. So, it will not  be a council meeting but a special meeting. Is   that accurate? town hall. So, two meetings on  February 10th, one at the regularly scheduled   900 a.m. and then we'll follow up with another  evening one and we will call that a special   meeting. Is that is the intent to conduct  business at the evening meeting or just to   receive comment because then if it's a town hall,  do you want a workshop or a a voting meeting? You were asking about a town hall. That's why  we're trying to accommodate multiple requests. Yes. To council member Ballard's point, as long as  there's an opportunity for open comment, I'm fine   with that. Thank you, Mayor. So, we will have the  regularly scheduled February 10th council meeting   and then in the evening time we will have a town  hall to address the sales tax and it will have   public comment at five minutes so that individuals  in the evening time can also have the opportunity   to speak. That is the night of the Holy War Cape  and Carol basketball game. I'll sacrifice that   though. went to Heights Cape last night. It was  a great game. So, well, thank you all very much.   I moved Council Member Shepard. Thank you, Mayor.  The only thing that I wanted to mention is that um   for folks who are working on the campaigns, vote  no, vote yes. Um as well as for us in terms of   the education that we're going to provide, which I  know the city does a remarkable job all the time,   but making sure that it's available in different  languages. um understanding that we have voters   who have preferred p uh primary languages  that are spoken and so making sure that that   is accessible to those individuals as well.  Thank you. I move to adjourn this meeting   motion and a second. Any further discussion?  I see none. Madam clerk, please open the role. We will do a a voice vote.  All those in favor say I.   I. I. All those opposing sign. Motion passes 70.