St. Cloud passes 2010 budget

St. Cloud passes 2010 budget
By Kari Petrie • kpetrie@stcloudtimes.com • December 22, 2009

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Twitter Next Page1| 2Previous PageAttempts to fully fund a St. Cloud Human Rights Office failed Monday night and the council passed the city budget as initially proposed.




The council passed a $76.5 million 2010 budget, which is a nearly 10 percent cut in spending compared with 2009. They also approved a $23 million property tax levy.
The budget passed with a 6-1 vote, with council member Sonja Berg voting against the budget. Berg had proposed an amendment to the budget that would fully fund the Human Rights Office.
The office was reorganized after its director left and a city hiring freeze prevented officials from hiring a new one. A coordinator working in the City Attorney’s Office now oversees human rights work.
For 45 minutes the council discussed funding the human rights office and listened to testimony supporting the office. The budget discussion was not a public hearing, but Council President Bob Johnson allowed several members of the audience to speak.
Kevin LaNave is a former chairman for the St. Cloud Human Rights Commission. He said funding a human rights office is critical to the city’s safety and livability, evoking a often-cited descriptor of St. Cloud.
He rejected the idea that the city should wait until a regional office can be funded, as city officials have said in the past.
“If full funding of a regional human rights office is an urgent priority ... then so is full funding of the city’s human rights office,” LaNave said.
St. Cloud Area Somali Salvation Organization Executive Director Mohamoud Mohamed said the city is taking a step backward by not funding the office.
Not funding the office is hurting some of the trust between government officials and minority communities, he said.
“It is killing our relationship with you,” he said.
Berg offered an amendment to include fully funding the human rights office and hiring a new director. Fellow council members did not vote for the approval, citing concerns over where that money would be found.
Council member Carolyn Garven offered an amendment to allocate an additional $30,000 to the human rights office. The 2010 budget included $20,000 to pay for the coordinator and $13,400 in nonpayroll funds. That money is included in the City Attorney’s Office budget



Garven also said she would like a stronger human rights commission with representation from the communities and groups that lobbied the city to reform the office Monday.



“I want to put a huge amount of authority in the commission on how to do this,” she said. “I don’t want a director anymore, I really want all of you.”
Johnson suggested that city administration take some money from several different areas of the budget to piece together the $30,000. He used the example of the money used to pay a consultant to run the council’s annual retreat.
“I believe you could parse out a couple thousand here and there to put together (the funds),” Johnson said.
But Mayor Dave Kleis reminded the council that there is still a possibility of cuts to the 2010 budget. He said “the likelihood is high” that the city will face additional reductions in Local Government Aid. The city also is still in negotiations with some of its labor unions.
The 2010 budget that passed Monday includes no wage increases.
If unions don’t accept a contract with no wage increases, Kleis said further cuts will have to be made to the budget.
While those council members who spoke said they support a human rights office, some said they were concerned about finding the resources to fund it.
Council member Dave Masters said he would need to know where all the money was coming from before he could support an amendment adding $30,000 to the budget for human rights work.
Council member George Hontos said he would like to see a plan of action before supporting additional funding. Hontos, a long supporter of a regional human rights office, also bristled at the fact St. Cloud has received so much criticism over the issue.
“We are the only (city) willing to put any money in a human rights office and we are getting most criticism,” he said.
In the end council members approved the budget that was initially put before them, one that keeps in place a hiring freeze and has no wage increases.
“This budget is very well done given the circumstances we face economically,” Johnson said.