Mayor (I’m Off to Sweenden) Message to Council . . .

on Overture . . . ouch.

So, here’s what I got out of his message . . .
1. I thought the council had to act by the end of the year, I missed the November 15th deadline, where’d that come from? That’s Monday of budget week, how’s that supposed to work? Or maybe it wasn’t.
2. The Mayor seems to think they have all the information they need to make the decision..
3. Data is never perfect, so this is good enough? Check out this quote “Keep in mind that regardless of the issue at hand information is never absolutely complete or perfect. We are always in a position where we need to make our best judgments based on the information available. To wait for perfect data is to never decide.” Yikes, I kinda want a mayor where details matter.
4. The mayor likes their deadline and finds it useful to make them focus. Accuses alders of voting for delay simply because they didn’t like a deadline being set.
5. He’s in charge here, he says so . . . “the direct negotiations are an executive, not a legislative, function.” and “support the basic public/nonprofit structure and the timeline for completion of discussions while being flexible on all details.” So, he’s already decided for the city, and they can play with the “details.” Oh, but if you want to send council leadership to the next meeting, that’s ok.

From: Mayor
Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 2:14 PM
To: ALL ALDERS
Cc: Piraino, Janet; May, Michael; Statz, Andrew; Strauch-Nelson, Rachel
Subject: Overture

Dear Colleagues,

I will not be able to join you at the joint BOE and CCOC meeting regarding Overture, but I want to respond to two issues that have come up: timing and the process of negotiation.

First with regard to timing, I understand the Council’s desire for more time. I will work with the donors to try to accommodate some delay beyond the November 15 Council action date they had requested. My commitment remains to get a proposed agreement to the Council in time for a vote by the end of the year, but it should be possible to move that date back to give the Council more time to collect information and to digest it.

Having said that, I believe much of what the Council has requested has or will soon be provided:

* A staffing study has been completed and has been generally accepted as being thorough and useful.
* The Overture Ad Hoc Committee has completed its work and issued its report. The committee endorsed the basic concept of city ownership and nonprofit operation with several important recommendations. Most significantly, the committee concluded that the private fundraising goal was achievable.
* A facility condition study was completed by Andrew Statz and City facility managers and engineering staff and was widely praised for its thoroughness.
* On Tuesday night the Council will consider a resolution to provide even more documentation by hiring a consulting architect or engineer to review that work. While I personally don’t believe that is necessary, it’s fine if it would make the Council more comfortable with the condition of the building.
* The Council will also vote tonight to hire an independent consultant to review the focus modal. That work should be completed in a few weeks.

Given all of this I have no reason to believe that alders won’t have enough information to vote before the end of the year. Keep in mind that regardless of the issue at hand information is never absolutely complete or perfect. We are always in a position where we need to make our best judgments based on the information available. To wait for perfect data is to never decide.

I also understand that some alders may be requesting delay not because they lack information but because they are upset that any deadline was set at all. This is not a legitimate reason to ask for delay. The donors were well within bounds to set a deadline just as the Goodman Brothers were wise to set a deadline for siting of the pool they helped fund. A deadline helps focus discussions. I find them helpful and welcome.

Second with regard to the negotiation process, the direct negotiations are an executive, not a legislative, function. We cannot have 20 negotiators (21 if you count Ms. Rosemary Lee). Having said that, I understand that we need at least 10 votes (and I hope we will have many more) on the Council to get this done. To this point, my office and I have been trying to function as an honest broker between the donor group and the alders. I have taken the position that I support the basic public/nonprofit structure and the timeline for completion of discussions while being flexible on all details. We are now moving into a final phase of negotiations where I will try to reach agreement with the donor group. My commitment to you and to the donors is to arrive at a plan that has a good chance of long-term success and to put that agreement before you for a vote before the end of the year.

The Council’s role is to give feedback during negotiations as you will on Tuesday evening and, of course, to have final say on the agreement in a Council vote at the end of the process. But the Council cannot be involved in the direct negotiations on an ongoing basis. These are being properly carried out by the City Attorney at my direction. The reason for this is that the City needs to speak with one voice at the negotiating table. And while I cannot guarantee that anything I negotiate will gain a majority on the Council, I will do my best.

Having said that, I think it would be useful to have Council Leadership present at the next negotiating meeting on Thursday. This will give the donor group negotiators a chance to hear directly from Council leaders about what they see as the most important issues for the Council at this time. It will also give Council Leadership a chance to get a flavor for the negotiations, which they can report back to their colleagues.

Finally, let me say that I remain optimistic about the final outcome. No negotiation with this much at stake is going to be entirely smooth, but we are making progress.

I will be in touch with my office and with Mike May throughout the week by phone and email and I will be back home on Sunday.

Sincerely,

Dave Cieslewicz