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<br />Councilmember Elvig stated that he agrees with Councilmember Jeffrey that it is the job of City <br />Administrator Ulrich and the department heads to decide what is "fat". He stated that to <br />Councilmember Look's statement, he agrees it may be worthwhile to make a statement back to <br />the Governor's office about our feelings, but is unsure what format should be used. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look stated that if the City doesn't communicate to the Governor it will be <br />something in future years that they decide was easy to push through this time, so they might as <br />well do it again. He stated that if there is a $1.5 million revenue reduction and $7 million is for <br />personnel costs, that comes to about 4.6%, which would be 18.5 people, which is a high number <br />of people. He stated that he doesn't think personnel cuts will be the end all solution here. <br /> <br />Councilmember McGlone stated that talking to the Governor doesn't plug the dike. He stated <br />that City Administrator Ulrich is the boss, but he gets his marching orders from the Council. He <br />stated that he isn't picking on any particular department, but the building department is the <br />easiest thing to talk about. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that he agrees with the conversation, but the difference that he sees, <br />is the scenario of Home Depot because they are a for profit business. He stated that the City is <br />not for profit and it takes a certain amount of people to govern the people. He stated that there <br />are jobs in the City that are primarily directed towards growth, which is not happening. He <br />stated that there are also a number of services that the City provides. that people expect, such as <br />public safety and roads. He stated that if the City looks at deep cost cuts, it will need to look at <br />the level of service and what the Council is willing to cut. He stated that there have been issues <br />around the minutes for years with people wanting more detail, more information and more <br />transparency. He stated that he has heard the same kinds of things with the Ramsey Resident. <br />He stated that he feels some of this should possibly be tabled until the goals session is held next <br />week to see what the Council is willing to let go of or services to reduce. <br /> <br />Councilmember Wise stated that he tends to agree that cuts needed to be made by the Governor. <br />He stated that looking at the building department, numbers don't lie. He stated that back in <br />2004, the work was getting done and the growth now is at a fraction of what it was back then. <br />He stated that he likes the idea of hour reductions, which spreads the pain, and there are no <br />layoffs. He asked about the contingency gas fund changes and asked if the City would be in <br />trouble if there was another price per gallon jump next summer. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that they left what they felt was a reasonable contingent amount <br />of around $3.00 per gallon. He stated that there is a general Council contingency fund, which is <br />at $72,000, which could be tapped into, if necessary. <br /> <br />Councilmember Wise asked about the benefits of staying involved in the North Metro Mayors <br />and Anoka County Mediation. <br /> <br />Mayor Ramsey stated that, in his opinion, he thinks the City should say no to the North Metro <br />Mayors Association and possibly also the AMM. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / February 3, 2009 <br />Page 4 of 15 <br />