City Council Announcements
March 2, 2010
A. Information Needed by Council Staff
1. The Council office has been receiving some calls and e-mails in response to staffing changes within the fire department. The Fire Chief prepared a written response to questions in an effort to clear up confusion. Council Staff has drafted a letter which incorporates the Chief’s response, in order to clear up the role of the Council and make the chief’s statement more widely available.
Is the Council comfortable with Council Staff reading or sending this statement to any member of the public who calls or e-mails regarding this topic? Ms. Gust-Jenson said this item had already been taken care of.
2. Draft Letters from City Council Chair: Staff has attached two drafts of letters from the City Council Chair pertaining to following up on economic development issues stemming from the Neighborhood Business Conference held January 28. Staff drafted two letters, one to Robert Farrington and one to Local First Utah Board Chair Betsy Burton. Staff made two drafts because there was some division among City Council Members about who should receive the letter. The Council also has the option of sending both letters.
Is the Council supportive of the attached drafts? Would the Council like to send both letters? Council Members were in favor of sending both letters, leaving in language to advise the Council and coordinate with Bob and Frank.
ADDITIONAL City Council Announcements
March 2, 2010
B. Information Needed by Council Staff
1. This year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held Saturday, March 13, 2010 beginning at 10 am. The Parade Route will be the same as last year, through the Gateway Center, ending at the south end of the Gateway. Council Member Turner has offered to provide his fire trucks as transportation through the parade. In order to make arrangements, Front Office staff needs to know which Council Members are interested in participating as soon as possible. Ms. Gust-Jenson said staff would make the application and any Council Members who wanted to participate just coordinate with Councilmember Turner.
Added Item:
Ms. Gust-Jenson said regarding the briefing given tonight by Karen Hale and Michele Straube regarding community input. With these interviews they are doing, they would like to have two people in each interview taking notes and they have asked whether Council Liaisons might be able to join in some of those interviews so the Council had some involvement in that as well. She asked if there was any objection to that. Council Members were in favor.
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Marehxx, 2010
Robert Farrington
Director
Office of Economic Development
Room 404, City & Council Building
Salt Lake City, Utah 84108
Dear Bob:
This letter is a follow-up to your conversation with the City Council at its February 16 meeting. We appreciated hearing about your office’s efforts to nurture economic development in Salt Lake City and to build on the discussions and enthusiasm generated by the Neighborhood Business Conference.
At the City Council meeting you mentioned that you were close to finishing a summary of conclusions about ideas raised at the Neighborhood Business Conference. You indicated that you also would identify a few next steps to take to foster neighborhood and small-businesses, including some steps that might use $10,000 the City Council allocated in its budget for this year. We look forward to hearing about the next steps and proposals you have.
As you may remember, our City Council Neighborhood Development Subcommittee asked representatives of Local First Utah before the conference to suggest ways the $10,000 might be used to foster small businesses in the city.
As part of your consideration of the next steps to take after the Neighborhood Business Conference, would you please get in touch with members of the Local First Utah board of directors to discuss your ideas? Would you also ask them for theft ideas to see what they have in common with you in moving ahead with ways to help small businesses?
Meeting with them is a great way to help extend the conversation that you and your office began with the Neighborhood Business Conference.
Sincerely,
JTMartin
City Council Chair
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March XX, 2010
Betsy Burton
Chair, Local First Utah Board of Directors
CIo The Kings English Bookshop
1511 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84105
Dear Betsy:
You and other small-business owners met early in January with City Council Neighborhood Development Subcommittee to discuss how to help nurture small businesses in Salt Lalce City.
Part of the meeting included speaking with Frank Gray and Bob Farrington of the City’s Community and Economic Development Department about the Neighborhood Business Conference held on January 28. Our subcommittee agreed to contact you, as the board chair of Local First Utah, after the conference to ask the board how best to use $10,000 the City Council has allocated to improve the climate for local small businesses.
Since the conference the City Council also has asked Bob to suggest ways to use the $10,000 to follow up and extend the conversation the business conference generated. He has indicated that he is close to finishing a summary of conclusions reached at the conference and that the conclusions may contain some ideas that might be funded by the $10,000.
However, the Council has made no firm decision on potential uses of the hinds. We hope the Local First Utah board of directors will explore potential uses for the $10,000 and advise the City Council on how the money can be used most effectively, particularly in light of any ideas sparked by the Neighborhood Business Conference. We hope you will consult with other small-business owners and organizations representing them. We also hope you will get in touch with Bob and Frank Gray to see if your ideas mesh with theirs or how they can work with Local First Utah to support ideas the organization may propose. The City Council subcommittee you met with in January is on hiatus, but we would like to hear from you either in writing or personally later in March if possible.
The City Council wants to build on the discussion and enthusiasm that was so evident at the Neighborhood Business Conference. We look forward to hearing Local First Utah’s ideas.
Sincerely,
JT Martin
Chair
Salt Lake City Council