Finance Committee - Minutes - 1/19/2022 - P19
Finance Committee — 01/19/2022 Page 19
for taking the time to explain to us in detail what the role of the committee is and pointing us in the right direction as far as
getting more information.
Lastly, | think we all learned today that our Legislative Assistant Donna Graham lost her father a couple of days ago. So
extend condolences to her and her family.
Alderman Comeau
Just real briefly. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Regarding what we were talking about earlier as far as whether we need division
heads and people to come in and speak on specific items, | was actually inclined to think that it may not be as necessary
as has been in the past until going through this meeting and now | kind of see more of the value. | know | got a lot of
questions answered that | found very helpful. I’ve almost changed my mind on that to the point where | can see the value
of that and I’d like to see that continue unless something comes up that’s so obvious that we really feel a consensus that
we don’t too much discussion on it. | can see the benefit in having people come and speak on these items.
Mayor Donchess
| had the same thought especially given the depth of the questions. | couldn’t answer all those questions. So we’re going
to have to bring people in here to answer them yes.
Alderman Cathey
Thank you Mr. Mayor. | would like to echo Alderman Comeau’s thoughts. | was also leaning away from having people
come in just because | do want to respect the other department’s time. | know they work hard and then having to come to
meetings at night and answer a bunch of questions could be very tiresome. | did find a lot of the answers that | received
were extremely helpful especially since a lot of us are new and are going to have a lot of questions about probably a lot of
very specific nitty gritty type of things and we don’t really understand it yet. | would probably lean towards having the
department people either at the meeting or very accessible. | don’t really know.
Mayor Donchess
Okay, no problem. That’s what we’ll do from now on. So we'll just proceed as we have. If they are very minor items,
maybe not but that’s probably the exception rather than the rule. We appreciate the questions. The advantage of having
the people come in is that you get to meet these people. You'll find that most or all are very competent and know what
they’re doing. That’s an advantage of having them come in. I’ve always found that Aldermen believe them more than
they believe me. | like it when they come in but | just wanted to at least express the point of view that for some people
come in to various meetings and not just here repeatedly. It can be a difficult burden with families and like. Any other
remarks by Aldermen?
NON-PUBLIC SESSION - None
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION BY ALDERMAN KLEE TO ADJOURN, BY ROLL CALL
A viva voce roll call was taken which resulted as follows:
Yea: Alderman Klee, Alderman Cathey, Alderman Comeau, Alderman Gouveia,
Alderman Jette, Alderwoman Timmons, Mayor Donchess 7
Nay: 0
MOTION CARRIED
The Finance Committee meeting was adjourned at 8:22 p.m.
Alderman Ernest Jette
Committee Clerk
