City of Hampton VA 22 Lincoln Street Meeting Minutes Hampton VA 23669 Www Hampton Gov City Council
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City of Hampton VA 22 Lincoln Street Meeting Minutes Hampton VA 23669 www hampton gov City Council W H Billy Hobbs Jr Christopher G Stuart Will Moffett Donnie R Tuck Chris Snead George E Wallace Molly Joseph Ward Mayor Staff Mary Bunting City Manager Cynthia Hudson City Attorney Katherine K Glass CMC Clerk of Council Wednesday April 24 2013 7 00 PM Council Chambers 8th Floor City Hall CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL MOLLY JOSEPH WARD PRESIDED PRESENT W H Billy Hobbs Jr Will Moffett Chris Snead Christopher G Stuart Donnie R Tuck George E Wallace INVOCATION Councilwoman Chris Snead PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Ward welcomed everyone to the meeting for the Public Hearing on the Budget Prior to the beginning of the Public Hearing Mayor Ward reminded the speakers to alternate between the podium and the free standing microphone as she calls their names in the order in which they signed the sheet She also noted that everyone is welcome to use their entire three minutes of speaking time however if it s possible to make their point in less than three minutes it will be appreciated as this may help ensure that everyone who wishes to speak has an opportunity to do so Mayor Ward welcomed special guests Senators John Miller and Mamie Locke and Delegates Mamye BaCote and Jeion Ward to the meeting She stated this team works for us in Richmond every day most diligently during the General Assembly Session and provides important support for us She thanked them for their service and for all they do for the City of Hampton Delegate Jeion Ward greeted those on the dais and made the following statement It is a pleasure for us to bring you greetings from the Virginia General Assembly My name is Jeion Ward and I stand here before you playing a dual role first as the President of the Hampton Federation of Teachers and also as a State Representative from the 92nd House District I am joined here by members of our State Delegation who also represent portions of the City of Hampton First my seat mate Delegate Mamye BaCote who represents the 95th House District and Delegate Gordon Helsel who wanted to be here but had a scheduling conflict We also have with us Senator Mamie Locke from the City of Hampton VA Page 1 of 20 Printed on 5 15 2013 City Council Meeting Minutes Second Senatorial District and Senator John Miller from the First Senatorial District This evening we are all here in support of the School Board s Budget I was in attendance at one of the meetings hosted by the School Board in the City of Hampton was there when every potential budget cut was discussed By the end of the evening it was obvious that the citizens did not want any cuts in City services and they definitely did not want any cuts to the Schools Budget because over the past four years Hampton City Schools HCS have lost a total of 376 members of its workforce six schools have been closed there has been a reduction in funding for capital replacement plans there have been salary reductions and elimination of some supplements employee benefit reductions health insurance cost increases increases in class size reduction in the number of Advanced Placement AP tests that are paid for by the division and the list goes on and on So you can see that all of that has long been cut from the budget and now we are cutting down into the bones This is totally unacceptable to us because our children our teachers and all of our support personnel deserve better Teachers have plenty on their plates already just trying to get through a day They spend hours outside of their school day grading papers creating lesson plans communicating with parents and participating in school activities In spite of all these cuts you will see that these same teachers are still teaching because of their dedication and their commitment to our children Teachers are not the only employees that were affected by these budget cuts There were also instructional assistants whose job it is to help those teachers reach their goals There are bus drivers who are up early in the morning before the crack of dawn delivering our children safely to and from schools every day custodians who maintain a clean and safe learning environment for our children school nurses clerical staff central administration principals cafeteria staff all working cohesively to ensure the best education for our children That is why it was an easy task for all of us to go before the General Assembly and fight for every dime we could get for the education of our children This year we were so pleased to be able to bring home 122 733 028 however also in spite of these tough economic times we were even able to bring increased funding because of the student ratio This year we were just pleased to be able to do all that we can do This is really a significant contribution from the State however it is still not enough so I am proud to say that this entire Hampton delegation stood shoulder to shoulder to make sure that we received every education dollar that we were entitled to receive Now that we are out of session we have done all that we can do Now we ask that you stand shoulder to shoulder with us and fully fund the School Board s Budget By doing so you will be making an investment not only in the lives of our children but also in our community We do thank you so much for your time this evening Mayor Ward noted that she does not disagree with Delegate Ward and that she appreciates everybody s enthusiasm however asked everyone to keep the enthusiasm clapping to a minimum so that we can get through the evening in a timely manner She then thanked Delegate Ward for her comments and all of the Senators and Delegates for being present Mayor Ward recognized members of the School Board who were in attendance and wished to make comments Mr Joe Kilgore Vice Chair greeted those on the dais thanked them for the opportunity to speak and made the following statement Earlier this afternoon our School Board Chair Ms Martha Mugler did an excellent job presenting the School Board unanimously approved FY14 budget so I won t go over any of the details that she presented this City of Hampton VA Page 2 of 20 Printed on 5 15 2013 City Council Meeting Minutes afternoon What I do want to say is that it was clear to me based on the comments that you all gave and the detailed questions that you gave that you care about our students and our staff and our schools and that you understand the vital role that the success of our schools play in our community I want to personally thank each of you for all you do for the City of Hampton I also respectfully request that you support the School Board Budget as presented Ms Monica Smith School Board Member greeted those on the dais and made the following statement As a Hampton City School Board Member I voted for and fully support the Hampton City School Budget that you heard this afternoon Our Board unanimously approved this budget because we all agreed that we can t continue yet another year with cuts to our schools Staff parents students themselves and even citizens without children in our schools have contacted me and addressed our Board to express their concerns with the cuts that will be required if we don t get the funding requested As a parent myself with a child in HCS and as a longtime volunteer working in our schools I know that all of their concerns are valid Our schools belong to our entire community even those without kids in school Not only are schools a primary economic driver but our kids our young adults are also the ones that are going to be our policemen our doctors designing buildings and serving us in businesses They are going to be running our City and we need to make sure that they are prepared Hampton has the opportunity to stand out as a community to make the bold move to invest to unite to keep our City vital I respectfully request support for our budget and an investment in our kids Thank you so much Ms Phyllis Henry School Board Member greeted those on the dais and made the following statement I am here as a former teacher and principal and grandmother of a future kindergartner to ask you to continue to be thoughtful I know that you are always responsive and responsible I ask you this evening to begin the process of also being very courageous and supporting the tax adjustment that is needed to invest not only in the School System but in our City services We need it for this City s future I have enjoyed being a citizen of Hampton for over 40 years We need to keep the quality of life for our citizens and the quality of programming for our students Thank you very much Ms Jennifer Phillips School Board Member greeted those on the dais and made the following statement I am a proud member of the HCS Board Malcolm Forbes said Education s purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one First I would like to thank all of you for your service and for the time that you all have spent for the last 90 days talking with us about budget issues and attending the public forums regarding the City and School Board Budgets Public education is a right it is freedom All of our children deserve the best education that we can give them If you choose private school or home school that is your choice just as public education is a choice and our children deserve the best possible education that we can give them These children are our future Our schools are tied into the economic improvements and development in our City If you want people and businesses to come you need to have a successful School Division Our staff has been asked to do more and more over