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City of Lincoln Urban Development Department
Mayor's Neighborhood Roundtable |
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Next Mayor's Neighborhood Roundtable:
January 10, 2008 at 5:30 p.m.
To submit suggestions for future Agenda Items, contact Rick Hoppe, Mayor's Office, at 441-7511.
Chairperson Tracy Lines Corr called the meeting to order at 5:33 P.M., Thursday, December 13, 2007, in the Mayor's Conference Room, County/City Building, Lincoln, Nebraska. Eighteen participants attended.
| Tracy Lines Corr, 40th & A St. Neigh. Assoc. | Jeff Schwebke, Arnold Heights Neigh. Assoc. |
| Rick Noyes, Downtown Neigh. Assoc. | Cherie Krueger, East Campus Com. Org. |
| Paula Rhian, Everett Neigh. Assoc./Nebr. Dept. of Econ. Dev. | Dianna Wright, Highlands Neigh. Assoc. |
| Gary Irvin, South Salt Creek Com. Org. | Lois Haupt, University Place Com. Org. |
| Bill Vocasek, West A Neigh. Assoc. | Larry Frisch, Witherbee Neigh. Assoc. |
| Erik Laing, Free to Grow | Russell Miller, Lincoln Neigh Alliance |
| Harry Haefer, Lincoln/Lanc. Co. Health Dept. | Rick Hoppe, Mayor's Office |
| Nancy Engel, Urban Development Dept. | Wynn Hjermstad, Urban Development Dept. |
| Chief Niles Ford, Lincoln Fire Dept. | Mayor Beutler |
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Ms. Corr opened the meeting and asked the participants to introduce themselves. A sign-in sheet was provided for check-in.
Tracy mentioned "Get to Know Your Elected Officials" -- a Lincoln Neighborhood Alliance meeting, Saturday, January 26, 2008. See the flyer for details.
Nancy Engel announced the second "Graffiti Hurts Coalition" meeting Wednesday, January 16, 2008, Mayor's Conference Room, 1:00 P.M. to 2:30 P.M. Call Nancy (441-5658) for details.
MAYOR'S COMMENTS
Mayor Beutler attended a meeting on December 12, 2007, with about twenty people from various neighborhoods -- mostly Near South and Everett -- called by Council Member Dan Marvin. Marvin is interested in helping the older neighborhoods. The City agreed to put some ideas before this ad hoc group at a meeting in January. Subjects included: rebuilding community capital; hiring a "Free-to-Grow" type City staff person to work in one,
or more, neighborhoods; an initiative on meth and/or prostitution; working with NIFA and TIF for applications to increase home ownership in certain neighborhoods; blight study in certain neighborhoods; and increased enforcement of laws relating to housing and crime. This group is impatient and eager for action, rather than creating more subcommittees and having more meetings where proposed solutions and action steps are merely
discussed.
The Mayor is a bit concerned that this new group may duplicate efforts since they are working independently of the Roundtable and the Lincoln Neighborhood Alliance. A sign-up sheet was passed around for those interested in attending the January meeting. Considerable discussion followed about this development and the appropriate approach to incorporate the Roundtable in the endeavor. Notification of the January meeting will be through the Roundtable e-mail list.
FIRE CHIEF NILES FORD: LINCOLN FIRE and RESCUE (or LFR)
Niles Ford introduced himself to the Roundtable. He comes to Lincoln from the Fulton County Fire Department in the Atlanta, Georgia area with a force of 447 and a $36 million budget. He was second in command working with the budget, all procurement and finance issues, personnel, training and development. Chief Ford has an associate degree in Fire Science, a bachelor's degree in Public Administration, a master's degree in Management and is pursuing a PhD. He also previously held the Nationally Registered Paramedic certification but has recently let it go because he does not need it.
The mission of LFR is to provide the highest level of life and property safety through the extension of fire prevention, fire control, emergency medical services and public education services to the citizens of the Lincoln community. The Chief had a planning session this week with all the chief officers of LFR along with the president and vice-president of the union. This meeting worked in "broad strokes" on organizational development. Over the next two months they will refine them into workable concepts. They worked on the mission statement at this meeting. The fire department's goals and values and mission are much broader than what is in the mission statement. The mission statement should be the start for everyone's focus. LFR may make some modifications to the mission statement, but it will be a cooperative effort throughout the department.
The Lincoln Fire Department was founded in 1867 as a volunteer department. In 1887, the City decided to have paid professionals because they wanted trained fire fighters on duty at all times to provide public safety to the citizens of Lincoln. LFR services 260,338 citizens of Lincoln (2006) covering approximately 82 square miles. It has been an Accredited Fire Department since 1997 being one of the first to receive this credential. Lincoln Police Department and our 911 service are also accredited. Lincoln is one of just two cities in the nation having these three accreditations. The fire service also holds an ISO rating of 3 out of 10 (1 = highest; 10 = lowest).
Currently, the force consists of:
DISCUSSION
The Roundtable discussed ways to inform the citizens of Lincoln about services provided by taxes. Mayor Beutler mentioned databases that reflect actual performance (benchmarks) compared with perception and/or expectations.
SET JANUARY AGENDA
The next meeting of the Mayor's Neighborhood Roundtable is scheduled for January 10, 2008, 5:30 p.m., in the Mayor's Conference Room, County/City Building, 555 South 10th Street, 2nd floor. The January agenda will include a presentation by Council Member Jonathan Cook regarding right-of-way issues.
ADJOURN
There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 6:35 p.m.
Submitted by: David G. Ensign
Urban Development Department
Urban Development
Community Development Division
Mayor's Neighborhood Roundtable