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<br />Councilmember Musgrove noted that there are some issues going on that they cannot talk about; <br />however, it behooves them that they are giving money to this organization that they have not done <br />due diligence to understand the financial situation of this organization. She asked what other cities <br />spend on funding Alexandra House. <br /> <br />City Administrator Hagen said he is not sure what other cities are contributing to Youth First; <br />however, the City’s contribution has not changed over the years. He added that they can consider <br />an adjustment to this amount if they would like. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove explained that it would likely be more of a matter of adjusting their <br />contribution up or down based on the Alexandra House needs. <br /> <br />Councilmember Specht stated the $5,000 contribution to the Alexandra House seems to be a good <br />amount and he would not look to increase it. He said he struggles with not fulfilling the 2024 <br />commitment to Youth First as they committed to contribute a certain amount and Youth First made <br />their budget around this. He stated he would support still sending them the last payment of 2024 <br />that they committed to. <br /> <br />Councilmember Woestehoff explained that the Youth First budget is done by the City of Andover. <br />He said there were some issues with fiscal oversight in the budget and the organization is currently <br />pursuing recovery of around $30,000 from the former Executive Director. He stated he sees this <br />as a very bad time to pull a commitment from an organization that is already short on funds. <br /> <br />Councilmember Howell shared that she does not support Youth First based on their efforts based <br />on racial-driven policies. She said she finds it irresponsible to dump more money into something <br />that has not had good oversight. She stated she would be more in favor of giving the contribution <br />that is committed to Youth First to the Alexandra House. <br /> <br />Councilmember Riley noted that they made a commitment to Youth First and he thinks they need <br />to follow through with it. <br /> <br />Mayor Kuzma agreed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Woestehoff said he would like to know more about what other cities give to the <br />Alexandra House to see if there is a greater need. He noted this is a great organization worth <br />supporting. <br /> <br />Councilmember Musgrove asked if they were no longer going to be financially supporting Youth <br />First if they needed to have a Council liaison on the Board. <br /> <br />Councilmember Woestehoff said no. <br /> <br />City Administrator Hagen stated that Council appointments happen in January and they can <br />remove Youth First from the list. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session / October 22, 2024 <br />Page 11 of 15 <br /> <br />